MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN: 


A  RECORD  OF  THE  ADVENTURES  OF  THAT  RENOWNED 
PARTISAN  RANGER, 


JOHN    S.     MOSBY, 

[COLONEL  C.  S.  A.] 


INCLUDING  THE  EXPLOITS  OF  SMITH,  CHAPMAN,  RICH- 

AKDS,  MONTJOV,  TUKNEK,  RUSSELL,  GLASSCOCK, 

AND  THE  MEN  UNDER  THEM. 


J.     MARSHALL      CRAWFORD 

H 
OF  COMPANY   B 


NEW     YORK: 
G.     ?r.     CA'RLE2O»V    &     CO.,      Publishers. 

LONDON  :   S.  LOW,  SON  &  CO. 

MDCCCLXVII. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867,  by 
GEO.    W.    CARLETON,    &    CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New  York. 


3.  E.  FARWKLL  &  Co., 

Btereotypera   and   rrintert, 

37  CoiiKresi  St.,  Boitoo. 


TO 
THE     SOLDIERS 

OF    THE 

Mir  battalion  of  Virginia 

I    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATE 

THIS    BOOK, 
AS  A  MARK  OF  MY  ESTEEM. 

It  is  a  record  of  personal  recollections  of  your  achievements 
during  the  late  war.  Although  not  so  elaborate  a  work  as  I 
could  wish  to  offer  you,  yet  it  is  a  faithful  and  correct  narra 
tive  written  from  memoranda  made  of  events  as  they  occurred, 
by  one  of  your  comrades,  who,  from  the  earliest  organization 
of  our  command,  shared  with  you  your  hardships  and  defeats, 
until  the  disbanding  of  the  command  at  Salem. 

Although  not  so  voluminous  as  it  might  be,  yet  this  work 
contains  an  account  of  all  the  important  movements  of  the 
command. 

Some  of  my  Northern  readers  may  consider  the  work  a 
little  too  "  rebellious,"  and  may  charge  me  with  presenting  the 
acts  of  some  of  their  men  in  colors  too  dark.  But  let  them 
travel  through  the  country  their  armies  have  traversed,  and 

(5) 


i]  PREFACE. 

they  will  see  too  many  proofs  of  the  truthfulness  of  the  pic 
ture.  The  once  happy  homes  and  smiling  faces  no  longer 
greet  the  stranger.  The  blooming  fields,  the  orange-groves 
and  extensive  flower-gardens,  no  longer  cheer  the  tourist  or 
protect  the  wearied  traveller  from  the  burning  sun  of  the 
South.  The  Southern  flag  no  longer  floats  over  its  brave 
defenders  5  but  the  scenes  and  trials  of  the  Southern  people 
during  this  contest  cannot  be  forgotten  by  those  who  saw  and 
felt  them.  The  history  of  the  struggle  will  be  written  here 
after,  when  passion  shall  have  cooled,  and  the  historian  shall 
be  a  philosopher,  and  not  a  fanatic.  Then  many  things  shall 
assume  a  different  appearance  from  that  which  they  now  pre 
sent  ;  but  no  historian  will  ever  say  that  the  43d  Battalion  of 
Virginia  Cavalry  proved  recreant  to  their  duty. 

To  Colonel  Mosby's  father  and  mother,  I  return  my  most 
sincere  thanks  for  assistance  rendered  me  when  I  commenced 
my  enterprise. 

To  George  Palmer,  Esq.,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  I  tender  my 
obligations  for  similar  favors  rendered  in  1865  ;  while  Major 
Richards,  Captains  Glasscock  and  Richards,  and  other  mem 
bers  of  the  command,  will  please  accept  my  grateful  remem 
brance  for  the  encouragement  given  me  in  my  feeble  efforts  to 
narrate  the  deeds  of  heroism  done  by  our  command. 

J.   M.   C. 
LOUISVILLE,  AY. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  SITUATION  —  BOMBARDMENT  OF  FORT  SUMTER  —  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  PROO- 
I  AMATION  —  RIOT  IX  BALTIMORE  —  PERFIDY  Of  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  MARYLAND 
—  TREATMENT  OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF  BALTIMORE, 11 

CHAPTER  H. 

EXCITEMENT  IN  WASHINGTON —  GOVERNMENT  CLERKS  CALLED  UPON  TO  ENROLL 
THEMSELVES  —  AUTHOR  LEAVKS  WASHINGTON  —  ARRIVES  IN  MONTGOMERY  — 
ENTHUSIASM  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  PEOPLE —  SEAT  OF  GOVERNMENT  REMOVED  TO 
RICHMOND, 23 

CHAPTER  III. 

PREPARATIONS    FOR    WAR    IX    RICHMOND  —  BEAUREGARD    ARRIVES    IX    RICHMOND  — 

KETKEAT  OF  THE  YA-XKEES  —  REJOICINGS   IN   RICHMOND,  ,          .          .          .       35 


CHAPTER  IY. 


MCCLELLAN'S  ANACONDA  — ACCOUNT  OF  MOSBY'S  FAMILY  AND  EARLY  LIFE  — MOSBT 
RESPONDS  TO  THE  CALL  OF  THE  GO  VEP.  NOR  —  BATTLE  OF  SEVEX  PINES  — MOsBY 
PENETRATES  THE  LINES  OF  THE  ENEMY,  AND  LEARNS  MCCLELLAS'S  PLANS  — 
BOLD  ESCAPE, 46 

CHAPTER  V. 

MOSBY'S  RAID  ROUND  THE  ENEMY  — IS  TAKEN  PRISONER—  BATTLE  OF  HARRISON*^ 
LANDING  — STONEWALL  JACKSON'S  VISIT  TO  RICHMOND  —  MOS.BY  EXCHANGED  — 
POPE  DEFEATED  —  HOOKER  DEFEATED, 54 

CHAPTER  VI. 

MOSBY  RECEIVES  HIS  COMMISSION  AS  CAPTAIN  4-  KILPATRICK  AND  DAHLGREN  — 
ALARM  IN  RICHMOND  — HOOKER'S  DEFEAT  —  DEATH  OF  STONEWALL  JACKSON — 
SORROW  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  PEOPLE, 63 

CHAPTER  VII. 

LEE'S  INVASION  OF  THE  NORTH  — MOSBY'S  CAPTURE  OF  GENERAL  STOUGHTON  — 
THE  CONFEDERATE  SOLDIER  KK<»1  NEW  ENGLAND  —  GENE11AL  ORDER  BY  GEN 
ERAL  STUART  — CAPTURE  OF  WAGO-N  S,  ETC.  —  REMARKABLE  ESCAPE  OF  MOsBY,  71 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

LEE'S  MARCH  INTO  PENNSYLVANIA  — THE  CONDUCT  OF  HIS  ARMT  CONTRASTED 
"WITH  THAT  OF  THE  FEDCu ALS  —  I! ATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG  —  MOSBY  ACTIVE  — 
1XTRACT  FROM  A  MONROE,  OHIO,  TAPER, 82 


8  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FEELING  OF    THE  SOUTHERN  PEOPLE  —  RECRUITING  —  THE  WRITER    JOINS  MOSBY  — 

ADVENTURES  ON  TUE  WAY  —  MOSBY'S  APPEARANCE, 94 

CHAPTER  X. 

MOSBY  GAINS  IMPORTANT  INTELLIGENCE  FOK  GENERAL  LEE —  APPEARANCE  OF  THE 

DUCT   OK    A  NEW  BECKL'IT —  CAPTURE   OF    WAGONS,  ETC.  —  A  VERY  SOFT    Till  Mi 

IS  FOUND  TO  BE  TOO  UAUD, 105 

CHAPTER  XL 

AFFAIR  WITH  A  DETACHMENT  OF  CAVALRY  —  CAPTURE  OF  A  WAGON-TRAIN  — 
ORGANIZATION  OF  ANOTHER  COMPANY  —  FEASTING  —  ATTACK  UPON  THE  CAMP 
AT  WAKRENTON  — PRISONERS,  ETC.,  TAKEN, 117 

CHAPTER  XII. 

CAPTURE   OF    TWO   CORRESPONDENTS  OF  THE   "NEW  YORK  HERALD  "  — EXPEDITION 


127 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


MOSBY  CAPTURES  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY  MULES  AND  TEN  HORSES  FROM  A 
WAGON-TRAIN,  BURNING  FORTY  WAGONS  —  YANKEES  CAPTURED  —  BOLD  EX 
PLOIT  OF  MONTJOY, 134 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

AFFAIR  WITH  COLONEL  COLE'S  CAVALRY  — SIXTEEN  OUT  OF  EIGHTY  "LEFT  TO  TELL 

THE  TALE"— CAPTURE  OF    HORSES,  ETC.  —  EXCESSIVE  COLD  —  SPLENDID  SCEMi    140 

CHAPTER  XV. 

CAPTURE  BY  LIEUTENANT  TURNER  AND  HIS  MEN  — MEN  FROZEN  —  CAPTAIN  STRING- 
FELLOW  —  DARING  EXPLOIT,  148 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


PLAY   AT    ALEXANDRIA,  ENTITLED,    "THE   GUERILLA "  —  MEETING  AT  UPPERVILLE 
EXPEDITION  — PLAN   OF    CAPTURE  —  FAILURE    OF    PLAN  — LOSS    OF    SMITH,  TUR 
NER,  FAXON,  COLSTON,   ETC., 154 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


DESPONDENCY  OF  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN  AFTER  THE  HARPER'S  FERRY  DISASTER  — 
CAPTURE  OF  A  SUTLER'S  WAGON,  AND  A  CORRESPONDENT  OF  THE  "NEW  YORK 
TRIBUNE"  — CAPTURJS  OF  A  PICKET  BY  MONTJOY  — ORDER  OF  GENERAL  PLEAS- 
ANTON,  107 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

JOHN  CORNWALL'S  REVENGE  — TWENTY-FIVE  OF  OUR  MEN  CAPTURED  — CAPTAIN 
CHAPMAN'S  ATTEMPT  TO  RESCUE  THEM  — THE  ENEMY  TAKE  HOUSES,  CHICKENS, 
ETC.  —MOSBY'S  MEN  SLEEP  IN  CAVES,  ETC.  ...  ...  -172 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

AFFAIR  AT  DRAINSVII.LE  —  ATTACK  UPON  COLONEL  COLE  —  "  PRIVATE  "  OPERATIONS 
—  MOSBY  LIES  IN  WAIT  FOR  A  DETACHMENT  — EVACUATION  OF  WARRfiNTON — 
RAID  INTO  THE  VALLEY, " 181 


CONTENTS.  9 


CHAPTER  XX. 

EXPLOIT  OF  LIEUTENANT  CHAPMAN  —  VISIT  OF  A  GERMAN  BARON  —  "  GOIVO 
TIIUOUGH"  — OUE  "TACTICS"  —  NARROW  ESCAPE  —  CAPTURES  OF  WAGONS,  ETC.,  189 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

CAPTURE  OF  A  VIDETTE  BY  JOHN-  RUSSELL  —  DISAPPOINTMENTS  —  YARIOCS  OPERA 
TIONS—BOB  WALKER,  LIKE  CHARLES  SECOND,  ESCAPES  BY  CLIMBING  A  TREE — 
KKYES'S  CAVALRY, 197 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

CHARGE  OF  BUSHWHACKING  —  A  DARKEY  BUSHWHACKER  —  UNIOK  CITIZENS  OF 
WATERFOKD  — A  "  TBAP  "  — ARTILLERY  —  SURRENDER  AT  DUFFIELD  —  LIEUTEN 
ANT  NELSON, ,  203 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

OOINO  INTO  MARYLAND  —  STRICT  ORD1  11  IN  MA  IK  HING  —  SKIRMISHING  ACROSS  THK 
POTOMAC  — A  DINING  PARTY  INTERRUPTED  —  THE  EAGLE  CAKE  —  "  GOING 
THBOUGH"  — YOUNG  MARTIN, 210 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MAJOR    FORBES     "  COMES     FOR    WOOL    AND     GOES     HOME    SHORN  "  — MOSBY's     LIFE 

SAVED  BY   TOM  R1CUABDS  —  SOLDIEULY  BEARING  OF  MAJOR  FOEBES,     .          .          .    224 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

STRINGENT    ORDERS  AGAINST    PLUNIiKP.ING  —  EARLY'S    APPROACH    TO    WASHINGTON 

PANY   JC  — THE  POTOMAC  BECKOSSED  —  A  BRILLIANT  FEAT, 230 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


CAPTURES  AT    BERRYVILLE  — NEW   UNIFORMS  —  LIEUTENANT    OLASSCOCK    CAPTURES 

1  \VENTY   MEN  — PLANS  DEFEATED, 238 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


MOSBY     PROMOTED     TO     THE     OFFICE     OF     LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  —  CHAPMAN  AND 

MONTJOY  PUNISH  A  GANG  OF  INCENDIARIES  — UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTACKS,         .          .    246 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

BEHAVIOR  OF  THE  ENEMY  AT  MIDDLEBURO  —  A  BLAZE  AMONG  MO«BY'"s  MEN  — 
CAPTAIN  SAM  CHAPMAN  ROUTS  THK  SIXTH  NK\V  YORK  CAVALRY  —  MOSBY 
WOUNDED  —  HEUTENAJfT  GLASSCOCK  IN  SHEKLDAN'S  CAMP, 253 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

SUCCESSFUL  TRIPS  OF  LIEUTENANT  lil  SKLL  AND  COMPANIONS  —  THE  WRITER'S 
VISIT  TO  RICHMOND  — DECLINES  URGKNT  INVITATIONS  TO  HAKE  11ISHOMK  IN 
THE  INTRB-NCHMENTS  —  MOSBY  ATTACKS  THE  ENEMY  AT  SALEM  —  VARIOUS 
CAPTURES,  ETC., 200 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

UNITED  STATES  MAIL-TRAIN  CAPTURED  — "  GOING  THROUGH"  THE  PASSENGERS  — 
CAPTURE  OF  MOSBY'S  ARTILLERY  —  TRAINS  THROWN  OFF  THE  TRACK  — (.l-N- 
ERAL  AUSEK  AKUESTS  FIVE  CITIZENS  —  CRUELTY,  270 


10  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

0  —  TREACHERY  —  TOO  MUCH  O 
KAILS  1O  ''MAKE  HIS    JACK," 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ITION    INTO    THE    CONFEDERACY 
1FFECTS  OF  RETALIATION  —  CASE 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


TOO   MI-CH   OF    A   GOOD  THING  —  TREACHERY  —  TOO   MfCII  OF    A  GOOD  THING  AGAIN 

—  CAPTAIN   FRANKLAND   FAILS  1O  "MAKE  11IS    JACK," 27G 


CAPTAIN    BRASHEK'S    KXPEDITION    INTO    THE    CONFEDERACY  —  GENERAL    POWELL'S 

RAID  — RETALIATION  — EFFECTS  OF  RETALIATION  —  CASE  OF  KOBEET  HARROVER,   285 


ESCAPES    FROM    PRISON  —  HALL'S     ESCAPE  —  MAGNER's     ESCAPE  —  ELIMINATION    OF 

SKULKERS— MONTJOY  LEARNS  SOMETHING  ABOUT  BRASHER,  ....    293 

CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

THE  BRAVE   BRASHER   DEFEATED  AND  TAKEN  PRISONER  —  MAGNANIMITY  OF  BRAVE 

MEN  — CAPTURES— CAPTURES  ICE-CAPTURED  —  ESCAPE  OF  YOUNG  ROLLING,  21)9 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

DEATH  OF  MONTJOY  —  BURNING  OF  JOE  BLACKWKLL'S  HOUSE,  MOSBY'S  HEADQUAR 
TERS—  A  LOYAL  TRANS  vc  M()N  IN  WOOL  — RAID  OF  CUSTAR  AND  OTHERS—  DE 
STRUCTION  AND  DESOLATION, 305 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

INTENSE  COLD  INTERFERES  WJTH  OPERATIONS  —  MOSBY  SEVERELY  WOUNDED  —  DIL 
IGENT  SEARCH  FOR  HIM  — Till:  NEST  WARM,  BUT  111  E  BIRD  FLOWN  —  PROMO 
TIONS— "FEAST  OF  REASON,"  ETC.  — MAJOR  RICHARDS  "PROCURES  SUPPLIES,"  313 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

EXPLOITS  OF  MAJOR  RICHARDS  —  RUMORS  OF  PEACE  NEGOTIATIONS — DEEP  SNOW  — 
FOX-HUNTING  —  MAJOR  GIBSON  AND  LIEUTENANT  BAKER  AFTER  US  —  SOME  OF 
THEM  RETURN  —  NOBLE  CONDUCT  OF  LIEUTENANT  BAKER, 330 

CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

.HIGH  PRICES  —  FORAGING  —  SHERIDAN'S  MARCH  —  MosiiY  PREVENTED  FROM  FOL- 
LOWING  BY  SWOLLEN  STI!E  A  M.s  —  I  \PI.O1TS  OF  CAPTAIN  GLASM'OCK  AND  LIEU 
TENANT  THOMPSON  — A  CHALLENGE  NOT  ACCEPTED  —  DESTRUCTION  OF  DIS 
TILLERIES 342 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

WEWS  OF  THF.  FALL  OF  RICHMOND  —  ORGANIZATION  OF  A  NEW  COMPANY  —  EX 
PLOIT  OF  CAPTAIN  BAYLOR, ;J52 

CHAPTER  XL. 

QLOOM  PRODUCED  BY    THE   FAI.t,  OF    RU'IIMol'D  —  MOSBY  CONTINUKS   IN  THE   FIELD 

BY   INVITED   TO   SURRENDER  —  SOLDI  ERLY    CONDUCT   OF   FEDERAL  OFFICERS,  .    350 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

MOSBY  DISBANDS  HIS  FORCES  AT  SAI.lM  —  KA  KI  WELL  —  MOSBY  T*KKS  THE  OATH — 
TEN  THOUSAND  DOLLAR  PATRIOTISM  —  SUBMISSION  OF  MOSBV'S  MEN  —  CON 
CLUDING  REFLECTIONS, 3f)5 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  SITUATION— BOMBARDMENT  OF  FORT  SUMTER  —  PRESIDENT  LIN 
COLN'S  PROCLAMATION  — RIOT  IN  BALTIMORE  —  PERFIDY  OF  THE 
GOVERNOR  OF  MARYLAND —  TREATMENT  OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF 
BALTIMORE. 


THE  American  people  have  just  passed 
through  a  great  civil  war,  —  a  war  that 
has  exceeded  in  gigantic  proportions  all 
the  great  conflicts  of  modern  times.  In  its 
swift  course  of  destruction  it  has  laid  many 
fair  cities  in  ashes,  and  has  left  to  mark  its 
course  scenes  of  ruin  and  desolation  that  no 
pencil  can  sketch,  110  pen  portray. 

A  quarter  of  a  million  of  bodies  that  lie 
mouldering  in  Southern  soil,  and  the  thou 
sand  of  widows  and  orphans  mourning  over 
the  loss  of  loved  ones  who  will  never  return, 
attest  its  ferocity  and  the  earnestness  with 


1 2  * "» ;  *•   -: '  -MOSS  Y  ]AN.D,  ms  MEN. 

which  both  sections  of  the  country  fought 
this  contest.  But  it  is  over  at  last.  The 
thunder  of  artillery  is  no  longer  heard,  and 
the  torch  of  the  incendiary  is  no  longer 
wantonly  applied  to  private  residences,  com 
pelling  the  inmates  to  fly  from  the  homes  of 
their  nativity  to  escape  the  insults  of  a 
licentious  soldiery.  The  last  stray  shot  of  a 
guerilla  has  been  fired,  and  not  a  single 
armed  foe  raises  his  hand  against  Federal 
authority.  Peace  has  spread  her  smiling 
wings  over  this  once  fair  and  glorious  coun 
try,  and  men  of  all  parties  and  all  classes 
hail  with  delight  the  prospect  of  once  more 
returning  to  the  quiet  avocations  of  every-day 
life.  It  will  take  many  long  years  of  per 
severing  industry  and  unremitting  toil  to 
build  up  the  waste  places  that  have  been 
made  almost  a  wilderness.  It  will  be  many 
years  before  the  wounds  made  by  this  un 
happy  strife  will  be  healed  over ;  but  wise 
councils  and  a  spirit  of  moderation  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  may  yet  repair  the 
mistakes  of  the  past,  and  the  influence  of 
commerce,  that  great  peacemaker,  may  unite 
the  interests  of  both  sections  in  an  indisso 
luble  bond,  and  the  Sunny  South  may  again 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  13 

blossom  as  the  rose,  and  her  power  and 
influence  be  felt  in  the  nation  as  of  old. 

The  dream  of  Southern  independence  and 
a  separate  nationality  has  vanished  forever. 
The  cause  which  the  men  of  the  South  had 
nearest  their  hearts,  and  for  which  they  sacri 
ficed  so  many  lives,  so  much  wealth,  and 
their  whole  energies  both  of  mind  and  body, 
has  failed^  their  sacrifices  have  all  been  in 
vain,  their  resources  have  been  exhausted 
in  the  fruitless  endeavor  to  achieve  their 
independence,  and  thousands  of  their  bravest 
and  noblest  sons  have  fallen  in  the  unequal 
contest.  At  the  end  of  four  years  of  almost 
superhuman  exertions,  they  find  themselves  a 
conquered  people,  with  the  loss  of  every  thing 
but  their  honor,  seeking  restoration  to  their 
former  position  under  the  Federal  flag. 

I  was  for  four  years  in  the  Confederacy, 
having  gone  South  almost  at  the  very  incep 
tion  of  the  war,  and  having  spent  the  last 
two  years  in  guerilla  warfare,  in  the  border 
counties  of  Virginia,  half  of  that  time  almost 
within  sight  of  the  Capital  of  the  United 
States.  I  propose,  as  a  part  of  the  history 
of  the  rebellion,  to  give  my  readers  a  sketch 

of  some  of  its  main  incidents,  and  more  par- 
2 


14:  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

ticularly  of  some  of  the  exploits  of  the 
battalion  to  which  I  belonged,  which  was, 
from  its  formation  to  the  close  of  the  war,  a 
terror  to  all  the  outposts  and  detached 
divisions  of  the  Federal  army,  and  whose 
scouts  and  couriers  gave  to  General  Lee  the 
most,  if  not  all,  of  the  reliable  information 
he  received  of  the  enemy's  movements  and 
designs,  and  which  enabled  his  lieutenant- 
generals  to  deal  such  sudden  and  heavy 
blows  upon  his  adversaries.  The  life  of  a 
guerilla  is  a  dangerous  one,  but  it  has  its 
charms.  Its  independence  and  freedom  from 
restraint,  and,  above  all,  the  opportunity  for 
bold  and  daring  actions,  which  carry  with 
them  personal  renown,  makes  this  life  far 
preferable  to  a  position  in  the  regular  army, 
where  men  stand  up  like  posts  to  be  shot  at, 
and  where  there  is  little  or  no  opportunity  for 
the  display  of  personal  courage. 

It  was  in  April,  1861,  that  the  first  scenes 
of  the  bloody  drama  were  enacted.  I  had 
been  holding  an  office  in  the  Treasury  De 
partment  at  Washington  for  the  seven  years 
previous,  and  was  in  the  civil  service  of  the 
Government  at  the  time  Fort  Sumtcr  was 
bombarded  and  surrendered  to  the  Confed- 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  15 

crates  under  General  Beauregard.  The  event 
created  the  most  intense  excitement  all  over 
the  country,  and  no  one  knew  what  turn 
affairs  would  take.  Three  Confederate  com 
missioners  had  been  sent  to  Washington  to 
negotiate  for  the  surrender  of  the  Southern 
forts,  arsenals,  and  public  property  of  every 
description,*  and  to  arrange  the  basis  for  a 
convention  between  the  two  Governments. 
They  had  been  received  informally,  but  their 
mission  failed  with  President  Buchanan. 
They  had  gone  home  unmolested,  and  the 
policy  of  the  new  administration  had  not 
been  developed.  Two  of  the  leading  North 
ern  journals,  of  opposite  politics,  the  New 
York  Tribune  and  the  New  York  Herald,  were 
in  favor  of  letting  the  South  go  peaceably. 
The  Democratic  party  was  opposed  to  coer 
cion,  believing  that  the  conquest  of  the 
South  was  impossible,  and  that  the  country 
would  be  ruined  by  the  war  and  our  institu 
tions  overthrown.  The  Republicans,  an  en 
tirely  sectional  party,  elected  on  a  sectional 
platform  and  for  the  first  time  in  power, 
flushed  with  victory  over  their  opponents, 
thought  otherwise  ;  but  still  they  paused  and 
hesitated  before  they  plunged  the  country 


16  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

into  a  war  the  end  of  which  no  man  could 
tell.  Things  were  in  this  condition  when  the 
news  came  North  that  Fort  Sumter  had  been 
bombarded  and  had  fallen.  It  threw  the 
whole  country,  North  and  South,  into  a  fever 
of  excitement,  and  determined  the  course  of 
the  new  administration  at  once.  President 
Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation  on  the  loth 
day  of  April,  1861,  calling  for  seventy-Jive  thou 
sand  men  for  the  term  of  three  months,  to  put 
down  the  insurrection.  Massachusetts  was 
the  first  State  to  respond  to  the  call,  and  in 
the  month  of  April  she  sent  two  regiments  to 
guard  Washington  city;  for  at  that  time 
it  was  supposed  the  Confederates  meditated 
an  attack  upon  the  Capital,  and  so  little  was 
known  concerning  the  plans  of  the  South 
erners  and  the  exact  condition  of  affairs 
in  that  section,  that  the  report  was  started 
and  actually  believed  by  General  Scott,  the 
Government  officials,  and  the  whole  North, 
that  Ben  McCulloch  was  marching  through 
Virginia  with  five  thousand  Texan  Rangers, 
supported  by  a  large  army  of  volunteers,  on 
Washington,  with  the  intention  of  sacking 
the  city,  destroying  the  public  buildings,  and 
moving  northward  with  fire  and  sword.  All 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  17 

the  roads  and  by-paths  to  the  city  were 
strongly  picketed.  Two  companies  of  infan 
try,  with  artillery,  were  posted  at  the  long 
bridge  across  the  Potomac,  to  prevent  any 
attack  from  that  point;  when  the  actual 
fact  was,  that  with  the  exception  of  two  com 
panies  in  Alexandria  and  a  picket  of  Con 
federates  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  bridge, 
including  a  few  stragglers  who  had  come  in, 
there  was  not  an  armed  force  in  the  field  in 
the  whole  State  of  Virginia, —  so  little  did  the 
public  or  the  Government  know  what  was 
really  going  on  in  the  South. 

A  Massachusetts  regiment,  passing  through 
Baltimore  on  the  17th  of  April  1861,  was  at 
tacked  by  a  mob.  Several  were  killed  and 
wounded.  Baltimore  had  always  been  noted 
for  its  mobocratic  tendencies,  and  little  atten 
tion  was  paid  to  the  affair  by  the  citizens,  the 
majority  of  whom  knew  nothing  of  the  diffi 
culty.  The  regiment  got  through  the  city, 
however,  but  as  the  train  was  passing  through 
the  suburbs  of  the  city,  a  member  of  the  regi 
ment  levelled  his  gun,  fired,  and  killed  a 
highly  respectable  citizen  (Mr.  Kyle,  who 
happened  to  be  conversing  with  two  or  three 

friends)    in   cold    blood.      The    news    soon 
2* 


18  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

spread,  and  in  a  few  hours  the  whole  city  of 
Baltimore  was  in  a  state  of  excitement  bor 
dering  upon  frenzy.  The  populace  rose  up  as 
one  man,  and  demanded  justice  in  behalf  of 
the  murdered  citizen.  The  perpetrator  of 
the  deed  was  not  delivered  up.  The  excite 
ment  increased.  A  mob  collected,  and  the 
first  act  was  to  cut  off  all  communication 
north  of  Baltimore.  In  one  night  all  the 
railroad  bridges  between  Baltimore  and  Wil 
mington  and  Harrisburg  were  burned  and  de 
stroyed.  The  road  between  Washington 
Junction  and  Annapolis  had  been  torn  up, 
and  the  Capital  of  the  nation  was  thus  en 
tirely  severed  from  all  communication  with 
the  outer  world. 

Had  the  Confederate  leaders  dreamed  that 
the  Federal  Government  intended  actually  to 
open  hostilities,  the  State  of  Virginia  could 
have  thrown  fifty  thousand  men  into  Mary 
land,  taken  possession  of  the  whole  State,  in 
cluding  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the 
Capital,  and  thus  have  ended  the  war,  and 
saved  all  the  blood  and  treasure  that  has 
since  been  wasted  and  squandered  with  such 
unprecedented  prodigality.  But  they  let  slip 
the  chance ;  they  were  unprepared,  and  a 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  19 

great  opportunity  was  lost.  Neither  side 
seemed  to  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the 
events  which  must  necessarily  have  followed 
from  what  was  occurring.  The  administra 
tion  and  the  North  thought  seventy-five  thou 
sand  men  would  quell  the  insurrection  in 
three  months  ;  and  the  South  had  conceived 
the  idea  that  they  would,  in  that  time,  win 
their  independence  with  little  difficulty,  and 
thus  we  gradually  drifted  into  this  great  war. 
Neither  side  had  counted  the  real  cost.  The 
South  was  fearfully  in  earnest,  but  they  over 
rated  their  real  strength  and  under-estimated 
the  power  of  their  adversaries. 

But  to  return  to  Baltimore.  The  people 
held  a  meeting  at  Monument  Square,  and 
resolved  that  no  more  troops  should  pass 
through  the  State.  The  city  was  under  mili 
tary  rule,  and  twenty  thousand  citizens  with 
muskets  in  their  hands  stood  ready  to  see 
that  their  resolutions  were  respected.  The 
Governor  of  the  State  addressed  them  from 
the  rostrum,  and  assured  them  that  he  would 
sooner  see  his  own  right  arm  torn  from  its 
socket  than  to  allow  any  more  men  to  go 
through  the  State,  or  to  aid  the  Government 
in  opposing  the  South.  How  well  he  kept 


20  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

his  word  was  seen  when,  a  night  or  two  af 
terwards,  he  slipped  off  to  Washington  and 
was  in  secret  consultation  with  Lincoln  and 
the  Secretary  of  War  as  to  the  best  means 
of  delivering  up  his  own  native  city  to  the 
Federal  authorities.  He  admirably  succeeded 
and  was  no  doubt  rewarded.  A  short  time 
afterwards  this  same  Governor  of  a  sovereign 
State.,  whose  Constitution  and  laws  he  had 
solemnly  sworn  to  support,  we  find  the  prime 
mover  and  instigator  in  the  infamous  plot  to 
destroy  the  State  Government.  The  Legisla 
ture  vras  prorogued,  and  the  leading  members 
arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Fort  Lafayette  in 
New  York  Harbor,  there  to  languish  within 
the  confines  of  damp  prison  walls  for  months 
without  trial.  They  were  committed,  and  to 
this  day  no  specific  charges  have  ever  been 
made  against  them.  They  were  finally  re 
leased  and  allowed  to  return  to  their  homes, 
shattered  in  health,  and  almost  exiles  in  their 
own  land,  under  the  surveillance  of  Govern 
ment  detectives,  and  subject  to  all  the  petty 
malice  of  provost-marshals,  whose  chief  aim 
seemed  to  be  to  study  how  to  exasperate  the 
citizens  of  that  devoted  State,  which  for  four 
years  had  been  subject  to  all  the  ignominy 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  21 

arid  wrong  that  governmental  parasites  and  a 
few  native-born  renegades  could  heap  upon 
her.  No  wonder  that  the  sons  of  Maryland 
flocked  by  thousands  to  the  Southern  stand 
ard  to  escape  from  such  a  galling  despotism 
at  home,  and  rushed,  with  avidity,  to  fight 
for  that  cause  that  commanded  their  sympa 
thy  and  respect. 

All  over  the  North  the  boast  was  made  that 
Baltimore  should  be  laid  in  ashes.  The  guns 
of  Fort  McHenry  were  turned  upon  the  city, 
her  citizens  were  hunted  down  like  outlaws, 
men  were  knocked  down  in  the  streets  by 
armed  ruffians  wearing  the  Federal  uniform, 
houses  were  broken  open,  ladies'  wardrobes 
were  ransacked,  and  the  owners  insulted,  pri 
vate  property  was  confiscated  to  the  personal 
use  of  the  soldiery,  and  to  all  these  wrongs 
and  outrages  the  Government  manifested  a 
stolid  indifference  that  would  have  done 
honor  to  the  Czar  of  Russia.  Simply  to  be 
known  to  possess  Southern  opinions  was 
cause  enough  to  be  thrown  into  a  dungeon ; 
and  many  a  man,  for  the  indiscreet  expres 
sion  of  an  opinion  as  to  the  legality  of  the 
high-minded  measures  then  being  enacted, 
was  dragged  from  his  bed  and  the  bosom  of 


22  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

his  family,  at  the  dead  hour  of  midnight,  and 
hurried  off  to  provost-marshals,  and,  without 
a  hearing,  immediately  transferred  to  some 
Government  prison.  It  created  no  surprise 
that  Maryland  was  disaffected  and  still  is  so, 
for  she  has  had  nothing  for  which  to  thank 
the  United  States  Government. 


CHAPTER  II. 


EXCITEMENT  IN  WASHINGTON — GOVERNMENT  CLERKS  CALLED  UPON 
TO  ENROLL  THEMSELVES  —  AUTHOR  LEAVES  WASHINGTON  —  AR 
RIVES  IN  MONTGOMERY —ENTHUSIASM  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  PEOPLE 
—  SEAT  OF  GOVERNMENT  REMOVED  TO  RICHMOND. 


TTTASHINGTON  CITY  was  in  a  state  of 
•  •  ferment  and  confusion.  There  were  not 
more  than  two  thousand  troops  there  to  guard 
the  Capital  of  the  Nation.  The  President 
and  Cabinet  were  frightened  at  their  sup 
posed  danger.  The  Government  clerks  were 
called  upon  to  enroll  themselves  into  compa 
nies  for  the  common  protection.  Arms  were 
distributed  all  through  the  departments  and 
stacked  in  every  room,  to  be  used  at  a  mo 
ment's  warning.  The  notorious  Jim  Lane  of 
Kansas,  with  one  hundred  of  his  desperadoes, 
bivouacked  in  the  East  Room  of  the  White 
House,  as  a  body  guard  for  his  Excellency 
the  President,  and  all  day  long  the  click  of 
the  hammer  and  chisel  could  be  heard  in  the 

(23) 


24  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

basements  of  the  Treasury  Building  and 
Patent  Office,  preparing  mines  to  blow  up 
tbe  public  buildings  and  records  in  case  of 
necessity.  A  gunboat  at  the  Navy  Yard  had 
steam  up  all  the  time  ready  to  bear  away  to  a 
place  of  safety  the  precious  lives  of  the  head 
of  the  Government  and  his  official  advisers. 
During  this  time  Southerners  in  Washington 
were  openly  leaving  to  join  the  Confederate 
army.  Southern  communication  had  not  yet 
been  stopped,  though  a  squad  of  soldiers  from 
Alexandria  were  guarding  the  long  bridge 
that  crosses  the  Potomac  at  Washington.  No 
attempt  was  made  to  stop  these  men.  The 
Heads  of  the  Departments  caused  a  new  test 
oath,  unknown  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  to  be  administered  to  the  clerks.  Those 
who  did  not  take  it  were  summarily  turned 
out  of  office.  Those  Southern  men  who  took 
it  and  stayed  did  not  remain  long  in  office ; 
their  truculency  could  not  save  them,  and 
the  hordes  of  office-seekers  from  the  New 
England  States,  who  so  pertinaciously  beset 
the  President  and  Heads  of  Departments, 
soon  drove  the  remaining  Southern  democrats 
out  in  the  cold,  because  they  could  not  stretch 
themselves  to  the  extreme  measures  of  the 
radicals. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  25 

Not  caring  to  be  turned  out  of  office  I 
promptly  sent  in  ray  resignation.  I  did  not 
await  its  acceptance.  Having  packed  up  the 
night  before,  and  bidding  a  few  friends  good- 
by,  on  Wednesday,  the  25th  of  April,  1861, 
I  jumped  into  a  stage  coach  and  started  to 
Dixie. 

As  we  rolled  over  the  Long  Bridge  I  looked 
back  upon  the  city  I  was  leaving,  where  I 
had  spent  so  many  happy  hours  in  social  in 
tercourse  with  friends  from  all  sections  of  the 
country,  and  I  cursed,  in  my  inmost  soul,  the 
madness  and  folly  of  a  sectional  fanaticism 
that  was  hastening  our  country,  with  such 
rapid  strides,  into  the  vortex  of  civil  war. 

The  spires  and  cupolas  of  Washington, 
with  the  half-finished  dome  of  the  Capitol, 
soon  faded  in  the  distance,  and  in  a  half- 
hour's  time  I  was  in  the  confines  of  the  Con 
federacy. 

The  first  place  we  arrived  at  was  Alexan 
dria.  Here  the  Stars  and  Bars  floated  proudly 
from  almost  every  housetop  ;  and  it  was  a 
great  relief  to  pass  from  the  gloom  and  de 
spondency  that  prevailed  in  Washington,  to 
the  life  and  animation  of  Alexandria.  All 
was  bustle  and  excitement ;  energy  and  de- 
s 


26  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

termination  were  stamped  upon  the  counte 
nance  of  every  man  I  met.  They  all  seemed 
to  be  putting  their  shoulder  to  the  wheel ; 
and  the  State  of  Virginia,  having,  by  a  sol 
emn  ordinance,  dissolved  her  connection  with 
the  Federal  Government,  and  joined  her  for 
tunes  to  the  infant  republic,  her  sons  ad 
vanced  with  alacrity  to  their  support,  and 
rushed,  with  enthusiasm,  to  enroll  themselves 
for  the  defence  of  their  native  State,  which 
was  so  soon  to  become  the  scene  of  the  great 
est  battle  of  modem  times.  There  was  no 
flinching  or  holding  back.  The  gray-haired 
man  of  sixty  years,  as  well  as  the  boy  of  six 
teen  summers,  hastened  to  don  the  Confed 
erate  gray,  and  receive  the  congratulations  of 
friends  and  brothers  in  arms,  for  the  holy 
cause  of  independence  which  they  then  swore 
to  uphold.  And  never  did  men  take  an  oath 
more  eagerly  and  with  greater  honesty  of 
purpose. 

For  years  the  mad  policy  of  the  Northern 
politicians  had  been  seeking  to  rend  asunder, 
by  their  sectional  onslaughts,  the  bonds  of 
brotherly  love  that  bound  the  North  and 
South  together.  Gradually  distrust  and 
doubt,  aggravated  by  insults  and  continual 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  21 

encroachments  of  the  growing  dominant  par 
ty,  settled  into  a  firm  conviction  in  the  minds 
of  the  Southern  people,  that  they  should  soon 
be  tied  hand  and  foot,  and  at  the  mercy  of  a 
Jacobinical  party,  whose  genius  for  evil  has 
been  manifested  in  this  country  ever  since 
the  landing  of  the  Mayflower  at  Plymouth 
Itock.  The  South  felt  this  spirit  of  intoler 
ance  growing  in  the  country  day  by  day,  and 
they  resolved  to  break  loose  from  this  bon 
dage,  cost  what  it  might,  and  be  a  free  and 
independent  nation.  The  heartfelt  prayers 
of  their  entire  home  circles  went  with  them, 
and  they  stood  ready  to  march  forth  to  do 
battle  for  their  firesides  and  their  freedom. 

I  left  Alexandria  the  next  morning,  and 
proceeded  to  Charlottesville,  via  the  Orange 
and  Alexandria  Railroad,  where  we  arrived 
about  noon,  and  found  a  large  crowd  waiting 
at  the  depot  to  hear  the  news  from  Washing 
ton,  and  to  learn  whether  the  Yankees  would 
commence  hostilities.  I  stayed  that  night 
with  my  brother  at  the  University  of  Virginia 
located  at  that  place,  where  he  was  com 
pleting  his  studies.  I  found,  out  of  six  hun 
dred  and  fifty  students,  all  but  seventy-five 
had  left  for  their  homes  preparatory  to  enter- 


28  MOSBY  AND  II IS  MEN. 

ing  the  Confederate  service.  The  young  men 
had  cheerfully  given  up  the  ease  and  quiet 
and  comforts  of  a  student's  life,  and  were 
prepared  to  bear  and  endure  all  the  hard 
ships,  perils,  and  discomforts  of  camp-life. 
The  deprivation  of  home  comforts  and  lux 
uries,  the  dangers  of  the  battle  field,  and  that 
worse  than  death,  sickness  in  a  camp  hos 
pital,  were  no  drawback  to  their  ardor,  and 
all  this  for  independence  and  a  complete  sep 
aration  from  our  late  Northern  allies.  I 
looked  around  upon  the  desolate  halls  of  the 
University,  the  silent  quarters  of  the  students 
which  a  few  weeks  ago  presented  so  much 
life  and  animation,  and  where  were  the  occu 
pants?  Gone  forth  in  defence  of  the  infant 
llepublic.  And  where  are  now  those  noble 
youths,  who  sprang  forward  with  such  alac 
rity  and  buoyant  spirits,  to  the  mortal  en 
counter?  A  large  number  of  them  have 
fallen  on  the  battle-fields  of  Virginia,  fighting 
nobly  for  the  cause  they  espoused  ;  many  have 
fallen  victims  to  the  cold  and  piercing  Like 
winds  on  Johnson's  Island,  while  languishing 
in  imprisonment ;  and  but  a  few  of  that  gal 
lant  band,  whose  first  exploit  was  the  capture 
of  Harper's  Ferry,  remain  to  tell  the  tale  of 
what  might  have  been. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  29 

From  Charlottesville  I  went  to  Lynchburg, 
and  found  there  that  two  of  my  brothers  had 
already  entered  the  service  as  privates,  and 
were  ready  at  a  moment's  warning  to  march 
to  the  seat  of  war.  All  the  able-bodied 
young  men  of  Lynchburg  were  volunteering, 
and  crowds  were  coming  in  from  all  sides 
to  volunteer  their  services  for  their  country. 
The  city  was  filled  with  recruits  from  the 
adjoining  counties,  and  troops  were  arriving 
on  almost  every  train  of  cars  from  the  Gulf 
States,  all  eager  for  the  fray,  and  all  de 
termined  to  fight  it  out  to  the  bitter  end. 
Such  a  scene  would  inspire  the  most  luke 
warm  with  the  confidence  of  ultimate  suc 
cess.  It  might  take  years  of  labor  and 
fighting,  and  oceans  of  blood  and  treasure ; 
but  what  were  these  in  comparison  with 
independence  and  a  Government  of  our  own? 
These  were  the  thoughts  and  feelings  that 
animated  us  all ;  and  in  that  crowd  of  people 
at  Lynchburg,  I  do  not  believe  there  was  a 
man  who  would  not  have  staked  his  last  dol 
lar  and  his  last  acre  of  land  upon  the  success 
of  the  Southern  arms.  I  stayed  in  Lynch 
burg  but  one  day,  and  the  next  morning  at 
daylight  set  out  on  the  Virginia  and  Tennes- 


30  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

see  Railroad,  for  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
which  was  then  capital  of  the  Confederacy. 
All  along  the  road,  at  Liberty,  Wythville, 
Bristol,  Knoxville,  Dalton,  and  Atlanta,  the 
people  were  very  enthusiastic,  and  were  de 
termined  to  see  that  the  Southern  cause  came 
out  of  the  issue  triumphant.  There  was  no 
croaking  and  no  drawing  back ;  but  every 
man  was  imbued  with  an  inborn  resolution  to 
abide  by  the  fortunes  of  the  Confederacy. 

I  arrived  at  Montgomery  in  the  early  part 
of  May,  1861.  Nothing  could  exceed  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  people  here.  The  streets 
were  crowded  with  soldiers,  some  organized 
and  marching  through  to  Pensacola,  others 
receiving  their  uniforms  at  the  expense  of 
the  citizens,  and  waiting  marching  orders. 
The  new  Government  was  under  full  head 
way,  the  departments  all  regularly  organized 
and  in  full  operation,  and  the  machinery  of 
Government  working  as  smoothly  as  in  the 
departments  at  Washington.  I  found  many 
familiar  faces  that  I  had  seen  and  been  in 
contact  with  in  the  public  offices  in  Washing 
ton,  who  had  followed  the  new  Government 
to  Montgomery.  I  presented  my  credentials 
in  person,  and  was  told  my  case  would  be 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  31 

attended  to  in  a  few  days.  Having  resigned 
my  office  in  Washington,  and  being  perfectly 
familiar  with  all  the  details  of  the  Treasury 
Department  business,  I  had  no  doubt  that  I 
should  in  a  few  days  get  the  same  position  I 
held  under  the  old  regime.  Being  acquainted 
with  a  number  of  the  Representatives,  and 
having  letters  of  introduction  to  some  of  the 
leading  members  of  Congress,  I  went  to  see 
them,  and  found  a  perfect  unanimity  of 
opinion  as  to  the  course  the  Southern  States 
had  taken,  and  the  policy  to  be  pursued. 
The  die  had  been  cast,  the  Rubicon  passed, 
and  with  their  eyes  turned  to  the  future  and 
the  Herculean  efforts  to  be  made,  these  men 
gave  themselves  body  and  soul  to  the  accom 
plishment  of  their  avowed  purposes,  and  to 
make  an  era  in  the  history  of  this  continent 
which  would  redound  to  their  glory.  The  first 
Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  were  fear 
fully  in  earnest,  and  to  see  their  resolution  and 
determination,  no  one  would  for  a  moment 
have  supposed  that  the  people  whom  they 
represented  could  ever  be  conquered  or  again 
bow  the  knee  to  a  political  master. 

The   next   day  the   Virginia   delegates   to 
the    Confederate    Congress    arrived.       They 


32  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

were  welcomed  with  open  arms  for  upon  the 
fidelity  and  endurance  of  that  great  State,  the 
mother  of  States  and  statesmen,  the  success 
of  the  Southern  cause  depended.  From  her 
geographical  position,  upon  the  soil  of  Vir 
ginia  would  he  fought  the  great  battles  of  the 
war.  That  State  would  he  the  first  one 
invaded,  and  to  prevent  the  Federals  from 
acquiring  a  foothold  within  her  borders 
would  require  all  the  valor  and  undivided 
strength  of  her  sons,  as  well  as  the  whole 
power  of  the  Confederate  Government. 
Though  the  last  State  to  secede  from  the 
mother  Government,  and  so  loth  to  part  with 
all  the  blessings,  recollections,  and  ties  that 
sprang  from  a  Government  of  which  she  had 
been  the  founder  and  so  warm  an  adherent, 
yet  when  she  did  wheel  into  line  with  her 
sister  States  in  a  cause  that  bound  all  her 
sympathies  and  commanded  all  her  support, 
she  buckled  on  her  armor,  and,  like  the 
knights  of  old,  she  went  into  the  contest  with 
a  singleness  of  purpose  and  a  high  sense  of 
honor  that  has  extorted  the  admiration  of  the 
world,  and  commanded  the  respect  of  her 
adversaries,  even  though  she  has  fallen  from 
her  great  estate  in  the  councils  of  the  nation 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  33 

since  the  close  of  the  war.  But  her  position 
in  the  history  of  this  country  can  never  be 
mistaken  by  intelligent  minds,  and  the  grand 
old  Commonwealth,  though  she  may  have  for 
a  time  lost  her  prestige,  yet  another  genera 
tion  will  soon  spring  up,  and  the  State  that 
has  been  styled  the  mother  of  Presidents,  will 
regain  the  position  she  has  heretofore  so 
proudly  and  nobly  held. 

With  the  delegates  from  Virginia  came 
General  Joe  Johnston.  He  held  a  long  con 
sultation  with  President  Davis  and  his  cabinet, 
and  urged,  as  .a  military  as  well  as  a  political 
measure,  the  immediate  removal  of  the  Cap 
ital  from  Montgomery  to  Richmond. 

General  Johnston's  council  prevailed.  The 
last  week  in  May  1861,  the  Capital  was 
moved  to  Richmond.  I  returned  to  Virginia, 
and  remained  in  Lynchburg  until  the  first 
week  in  June.  In  the  meanwhile  suitable 
buildings  had  been  secured  for  the  Depart 
ments  of  the  Government,  and  early  in  June 
the  whole  machinery  was  working  like  a 
clock.  The  President  took  up  his  residence 
at  the  Spottswood  Hotel,  where  rooms  had 
been  fitted  up  for  him  in  the  most  elegant 
and  complete  manner.  In  a  short  time  the 


34  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

citizens  of  Richmond  purchased  the  large 
and  splendid  residence  of  Mr.  Crenshaw,  at 
the  corner  of  llth  Street  and  Lee,  refur 
nished  it  from  garret  to  cellar  in  the  most 
elegant  manner,  and  presented  it,  with  a 
splendid  carriage  and  horses,  to  his  Excel 
lency,  which  carriage,  when  the  Confeder 
ate  forces  evacuated  Richmond,  General  Ord 
appropriated  to  his  own  private  use. 


CHAPTER  III. 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  WAR  IN  RICHMOND  —  BEAUREGARD  ARRIVES  IN 
RICHMOND  — BUTLER  MARCHES  TO  BETHEL  AND  BACK  — BATTLE 
OF  MANASSAS  —  DISORDERLY  RETREAT  OF  THE  YANKEES  —  RE 
JOICINGS  IN  RICHMOND. 


DURING  the  organization  of  the  Govern 
ment  in  Richmond,  preparations  for  a 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  were  made. 
The  greatest  activity  prevailed  everywhere. 
At  the  old  Virginia  Armory  the  machinists 
were  working  night  and  day.  Old  flint-locks 
were  converted  into  percussion-locks.  The 
Tredegar  Works  were  working  like  bees, 
rifling  old  cannon  and  making  new  ones. 
Troops  were  coming  in  almost  every  hour  of 
the  day,  from  all  the  Southern  States,  and 
amongst  the  first  was  a  company,  "The  Davis 
Rangers,"  all  the  way  from  Louisville,  Ken 
tucky,  and  composed  partly  of  young  men  I 
knew  in  my  schoolboy  days.  Fitzhugh  was 
captain,  with  A.  Gale,  Ed  Cocke,  Ivinny  Col- 

(35) 


36  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

mesmil  and  Mat  Gist  as  his  lieutenants  and 
sergeants.  They  encamped  at  the  old  Fair 
Grounds  until  other  troops  from  Kentucky  ar 
rived,  and  when  they  were  organized  into  a 
regiment  with  Tom  Taylor  as  colonel,  volun 
teers  from  the  Border  and  Gulf  States  were 
arriving  by  every  train  of  cars.  Schools  of 
instruction  were  established  all  around  the  city. 
The  drill-masters  could  be  heard  every  hour  of 
the  day  and  night  instructing  their  men.  The 
principal  school  for  the  instruction  of  the 
cavalry  was  established  at  Ashland,  the  prin 
cipal  instructor  being  Captain  L.  L.  Lomax, 
afterwards  Major-General  of  cavalry,  a  grad 
uate  of  West  Point,  who  had  served  with  dis 
tinction  in  the  regular  army  of  the  United 
States  before  the  war,  fighting  the  Indians  on 
the  frontiers,  but  who,  on  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war  and  secession  of  his  native  State, 
Virginia,  resigned  and  came  South.  Our 

O  '  O 

cavalry  furnished  their  own  horses  and  equip 
ments. 

The  latter  part  of  June,  Beauregard  ar 
rived  in  Eichmond  and  was  ordered  to  take 
command  of  the  troops  at  Manassas,  the  point 
to  which  the  eyes  of  both  North  and  South 
were  directed,  and  on  the  plains  of  which, 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  37 

afterwards,  two  of  the  hardest  battles  of  the 
war  were  fought,  and  two  of  the  grandest 
victories  won.  On  his  arrival  there  the  keen 
eyes  of  that  great  soldier,  after  a  survey  of 
the  country,  soon  recognized  the  importance 
of  fortifying  the  place,  as  it  was  one  of  the 
keys  to  Richmond.  The  Yankees  had  al 
ready  occupied  Alexandria  and*  were  fortify 
ing  Arlington  Heights,  the  home  of  our  great 
chieftain,  General  Robert  E.  Lee.  The  first 
levy  of  troops,  seventy-five  thousand  men, 
were  already  in  and  preparing  for  an  advance 
right  on  to  Richmond.  The  Yankees,  by 
some  means,  had  conceived  the  idea  that  no 
resistance  would  be  offered  them  on  their 
march  to  Richmond ;  that  all  they  had  to  do 
was  to  march  right  down  and  take  it ;  and 
that  the  Rebels  would  fly  from  before  them 
and  scatter  like  chaff  before  the  wind.  Their 
implements  of  war  had  all  the  most  modern 
improvements,  while  the  Confederates  were 
armed  with  old  flint-lock  muskets,  except  a 
few  got  at  Harper's  Ferry  armory,  and  some 
old  smoothbore  pieces  of  artillery. 

Brigadier-General  Magruder  was  on  the 
Peninsula  at  \Villiamsburg,  with  a  force  of 
not  more  than  two  thousand  five  hundred 


38  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

men  watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy. 
General  Butler,  better  know  as  Beast  Butler, 
was  in  command  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  to 
have  the  credit  and  glory  of  being  the  first 
one  to  enter  the  Kebel  Capital,  he  marched 

out  of  his  intrenchments  on  the day  of 

June,  1861,  to  ride  rough-shod  and  disperse 
the  mob  of  Magruder,  which  seemed  to  offer 
the  only  obstacle  in  the  path  to  Richmond, 
and  met  at  Bethel  with  a  reconnoitering  force 
sent  out  by  Magruder.  The  Confederates 
had  only  two  pieces  of  artillery  and  three 
howitzers,  commanded  by  Captain  Randolph, 
afterward  General,  and  the  distinguished  Sec 
retary  of  War.  The  enemy  numbered  five  to 
one.  Butler  ordered  the  attack.  The  Con 
federates  stood  their  ground  nobly,  and  being 
accustomed  to  the  use  of  fire-arms,  made 
every  shot  tell.  The  Yankees  charged  and 
charged,  but  could  not  stand  the  deadly  fire 
poured  into  their  ranks  by  our  men.  Ran 
dolph  captured  one  of  his  "  masked  bat 
teries,"  and  at  the  first  shot  with  grape  and 
canister,  the  enemy  broke  and  fied  like 
sheep,  leaving  their  dead  and  wounded  on 
the  field.  The  effect  of  Randolph's  howitzers 
on  the  Yankees  was  like  that  which  they 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  39 

have  on  the  Indians,  who  will  stand  off  and 
fight  all  day  long  with  long-range  guns,  but 
the  moment  you  thunder  your  artillery  at 
them  they  drop  their  arms  and  fly  for  their 
lives.  So  it  was  at  Bethel.  The  first  dis 
charge  played  such  havoc  with  their  ranks 
that  they  threw  down  their  arms  and  ran 
away,  thus  adopting  the  principle  of  Hudi- 

bras, — 

» 

"  He  who  fights,  and  runs  away, 
Will  live  to  fight  another  day." 

These  guns  of  "Randolph's  were  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  one  of  those  "  masked  batteries11 
which  were  such  a  bugbear  and  horror  to  the 
Yankees  the  first  year  of  the  war.  This  af 
fair,  being  the  first  battle  on  the  seaboard, 
was  considered  a  most  important  one  in  its 
results.  The  Confederates  had  been  longing 
to  be  led  against  the  enemy  to  test  their 
mettle.  It  inspired  the  men  with  confidence  ; 
it  instilled  new  vigor  into  their  camps. 

The  enemy,  failing  in  this  movement, 
directed  their  attention  towards  Manassas. 
A  party  of  their  cavalry  dashed  into  Fairfax 
Court  House,  and  captured  Captain  Ball  and 


40  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

nearly  the  whole  of  his  men  doing  picket  duty. 
It  was  in  this  affair  that  the  gallant  Man*  fell 
while  trying  to  rally  his  men  in  the  face  of 
an  overwhelming  force.  Captain  Ball  and 
his  men  were  marched  into  Washington  City, 
and  being  the  first  prisoners  of  war  ever 
there,  they  created  quite  a  sensation.  No 
preparation  had  heen  made  in  the  metropolis 
then  for  the  reception  and  detention  of  pris 
oners.  They  were  placed  under  guard  on 
board  the  steamboat  St.  Nicholas,  and  the 
officer  who  made  the  capture  was  promoted 
to  a  majority. 

On  the  19th  of  July  the  Yankees  made  a 
reconnoissance  in  force,  on  our  lines,  at  Bull 
Run.  Only  three  hundred  of  our  men  were 
behind  the  entrenchments,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Smith,  afterwards  Governor  of  Vir 
ginia.  The  Yankees  charged  our  men  sev 
eral  times,  but  were  repulsed  with  heavy  loss, 
and  retreated  in  great  confusion.  On  the 
21st  of  July  the  first  and  one  of  the  hardest 
fought  battles  of  the  war  was  fought  at 
Manassas.  The  enemy,  having  completed  all 
their  arrangements,  advanced  with  thirty-five 
thousand  men,  under  McDowell,  and  com 
menced  the  attack  on  us  at  daylight.  The 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  41 

battle  raged  with  the  greatest  fury,  the  ad 
vantage  being  first  on  one  side  then  on  the 
other,   until   five   o'clock   in   the    afternoon, 
when   Stonewall   Jackson    and   Kirby    Smith 
came  up  on  our  left  and  determined  the  for 
tunes  of   the   day.     The   result  would  have 
been  determined  sooner  had  it  not  been  for 
the  treachery  of  the  conductor  of  the  train, 
who  had  been  bribed  by  the  enemy  to  delay 
the  train  and  prevent  the  junction  with  Beau- 
regard.     The    conductor   was    bribed   by  the 
Yankees    to  delay  the  train,  by  paying  him 
five   hundred  dollars    in  gold.     On    the    ap 
proach  of  the  train  to  Manassas,  the  cannon 
ading  could  be  distinctly  heard  for  a  distance 
of  ten  or   fifteen  miles.     The   eagerness   of 
our  men  to   engage  the  enemy  was  so  great 
that  the  train  was  stopped  ten  miles  from  the 
scene  of  action,  and  the  men  double-quicked 
it  from  there  to  the  field.     On  our  right  and 
centre    we    were    hardest   pushed,   and  were 
nearly    broken    down    by   fighting    all    day. 
Our  ranks  were  terribly  thinned,  the  enemy 
gradually  pushing  them  back,  yet  every  man 
was    fighting   like   a   hero.     Indeed,  so  hard 
pushed  were  the  Confederates,  that  General 
Beauregard  sent  back  orders  to  Manassas  to 

4* 


42  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

prepare  the  works  for  his  men,  as  he  intended 
to  fall  back  to  his  fortifications. 

While  all  this  was  going  on,  a  shout  was 
heard  in  the  distance  on  our  left.  The  idea 
of  being  flanked  had  seized  the  minds  of  the 
men,  and  everything  looked  indeed  gloomy. 
The  shout  approached  nearer,  and  just  at  the 
moment  when  Beauregard  and  Johnson  were 
conferring  what  to  do,  a  courier  dashed  up, 
bringing  intelligence  of  the  arrival  of  Kirby 
Smith  and  Jackson  with  two  thousand  five 
hundred  reinforcements.  The  intelligence 
soon  spread  through  the  army.  A  new  life 
was  infused  into  that  body  of  heroes ;  a  final 
charge  was  ordered,  and  those  weary,  broken- 
down,  and  disheartened  men  responded  to 
it  with  the  alacrity  of  fresh  soldiers.  On 
the  left  Smith  and  Jackson's  men  stopped  to 
form,  and  charged  (half  of  them  without 
bayonets  on  their  guns)  with  a  yell  which 
seemed  to  shake  the  very  earth.  The  enemy 
broke  and  ran,  followed  by  our  men.  Pressed 
so  hard,  divesting  themselves  of  every  incum- 
brance,  they  fled  in  the  greatest  disorder,  and 
did  not  stop  until  they  reached  Alexandria 
and  Washington.  After  a  few  minutes'  pur 
suit  by  our  cavalry,  their  wagon-train  was 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  43 

overtaken ;  horses  and  mules  were  taken  from 
it  by  the  horror-stricken  Yankees,  to  facilitate 
and  make  good  their  retreat,  or,  in  fact,  flight. 
The  roads  became  blocked  up  with  deserted 
and  broken-down  wagons,  artillery,  and  cais 
sons.  At  Fairfax  Court  House  a  Congres 
sional  party  and  some  ladies  had  come  out  to 
witness  the  carnage  and  celebrate  their  vic 
tory  with  a  splendid  banquet  at  Manassas, 
and  follow  on  with  the  army  in  their  tri 
umphal  march  and  entry  into  Richmond. 
They,  however,  never  realized  their  bright 
dreams.  Several  members  of  the  party,  in 
cluding  a  Congressman  (Mr.  Ely),  were  cap 
tured  with  all  their  nice  things,  wines,  liquors, 
&c.,  and  sent  to  Richmond  by  railroad. 

President  Davis  left  Richmond  Sunday 
morning  for  Manassas,  and  arrived  there  at 
the  most  critical  period  of  the  battle.  A 
number  of  our  best  officers  had  fallen;  our 
ranks  so  thinned  that  the  only  hope  there 
seemed  to  be  left  for  us  was  behind  the  forti 
fications.  He  rode  on  the  field,  and  encour 
aged  the  men  by  his  words  and  actions.  That 
Sunday  was  an  eventful  day  in  the  history  of 
Richmond,  and  will  be  long  remembered. 
None  but  the  authorities  knew  that  the 


44  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

hardest-fought  battle  of  the  war  was  going 
on  then.  A  strange  spell  seemed  to  hang 
over  the  people.  Every  one  was  inquiring, 
"What's  the  matter'?"  Something  impor 
tant  was  going  on.  "  The  President  was  not 
at  church."  About  noon  telegrams  were 
received  for  all  the  troops  in  Richmond  to  get 
ready  to  move  at  a  moment's  notice.  About 
five  o'clock  T.M.,  Mrs.  Davis  received  a  dis 
patch  from  the  President  that  "  a  great  battle 
was  going  on."  The  news  spread  like  wildfire. 
The  people  flocked  to  Main  Street  and  the 
hotels  to  get  some  intelligence.  About  eight 
o'clock  P.M.,  telegrams  were  received  from  the 
President  announcing  "  a  great  but  dear- 
bought  victory."  "  The  enemy  are  flying  in 
every  direction,  and  our  cavalry  in  hot  pursuit." 
On  this  being  known,  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
people  knew  no  bounds.  Bells  were  rung, 
salutes  fired,  £c.,  &c. 

The  next  day  the  wounded  began  to  arrive. 
The  hospital  accommodations  being  very 
limited,  the  citizens  took  the  wounded  heroes 
to  their  own  houses  and  nursed  them.  I 
went  up  to  visit  the  battle-field  three  days 
after,  to  look  after  my  brothers.  The  slaugh 
ter  of  the  enemy  was  very  great,  for  on 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  45 

Wednesday,  three  days  after  the  battle,  large 
numbers  of  the  enemy  were  unburied,  most 
of  them  Ellsworth  Zouaves.  Major  Hay- 
wood,  of  General  Beauregard's  staff,  kindly 
furnished  me  with  a  horse,  which  enabled  me 
to  view  the  whole  battle-field.  The  point 
where  Sherman's  celebrated  battery  was  cap 
tured  bore  the  strongest  evidence  of  the 
desperation  with  which  the  combatants 
fought.  There  were  seen  the  wheels  of 
broken  caissons,  &c.,  perforated  with  musket 
balls,  horses  shot  through  and  through, — 
scrub-oaks  and  pine-bushes  with  tops  shot 
off,  —  men  headless,  &c. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


MCCLELLAN'S  ANACONDA  —  ACCOUNT  OF  MOSBY'S  FAMILY  AND  EARLY 
LIFE  — MOSBY  RESPONDS  TO  THK  CALL  OF  THE  GOVERNOR  — 
BATTLE  OF  SEVEN  PINES  — MOSBY  PENETRATES  THE  LINES  OF 
THE  ENEMY,  AND  LEARNS  MCCLELLAN'S  PLANS  — BOLD  ESCAPE. 


TCWERYTHING  remained  tranquil  in  Rich- 
J-^  mond  until  the  next  spring,  when  Mo 
Clellan  commenced  the  execution  of  his 
Anaconda  system,  when  by  one  simultaneous 
strike  by  the  armies  of  the  Potomac,  the 
Cumberland,  and  that  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
the  Confederate  armies  were  to  be  crushed 
and  dispersed.  It  was  about  this  time, 
March,  1862,  that  the  hero  of  this  book 
attracted  the  attention  of  his  superior  officers. 
This  truly  celebrated  man,  John  Singleton 
Mosby,  was  born  at  "  Edgemont,"  Powhatan 
County,  Virginia,  on  the  6th  day  of  December, 
1833.  The  place  of  his  birth  was  one  of 
those  beautiful  country-seats,  peculiar  to  that 
region,  and  was  owned  by  Colonel  Mosby's 

(46) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  47 

grandfather,  James  McLaurine.  His  father 
was  Alfred  D.  Mosby,  a  native  of  Nelson 
County,  Virginia,  and  a  graduate  of  Hamp- 
den  Sidney  College.  Colonel  Mosby's  mother 
was  a  Miss  Virginia  I.  McLaurine,  who  be 
longed  to  one  of  the  best  families  in  the  State. 
Mr.  Alfred  D.  Mosby,  his  father,  resided  in 
Nelson  County,  until  John  was  about  five 
years  of  age,  when  he  purchased  "  Tudor 
Grove,"  one  of  those  lovely  country  residences 
which  abound  around  Charlottesville,  Vir 
ginia.  There  he  resided  until  John  was 
nineteen  years  old,  when  he  sold  out,  and 
moved  to  Amherst  County.  John  was  the 
oldest  child  of  his  parents,  and  when  a  boy, 
exhibited  those  traits  of  character  and  energy 
which  marked  so  strongly  his  later  years. 
Having  received  a  most  excellent  primary 
education,  at  the  early  age  of  sixteen  years 
he  entered  the  University  of  Virginia.  Here 
he  made  extraordinary  progress,  graduating 
in  the  Greek  course  the  first  year,  and  being 
the  only  one  who  did  so  that  session.  He 
remained  there  during  the  years  1851,  1852, 
and  part  of  1853,  when  he  graduated  with 
the  highest  honors.  While  there  he  enjoyed 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  professors  ; 


48  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

and  Dr.  Gesner  Harrison  frequently  remarked 
that  John  Mosby  would  make  his  mark  in 
life,  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  clever 
young  men  he  had  ever  known  among  the 
students  at  the  University.  He  was  warm 
hearted  and  high-spirited,  and  consequently 
had  many  warm  friends  and  bitter  enemies  ; 
but  he  was  never  known  to  forsake  a  friend 
in  time  of  need.  He  is  generous  to  a  fault, 
as  his  coming  out  of  the  war  poorer  than 
when  he  went  in  abundantly  proves.  And 
out  of  all  the  prisoners  he  captured,  not  one 
can  say  that  Mosby  robbed  him.  After  leav 
ing  the  University  he  studied  law,  and  com 
menced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in 
Howardsville,  Albermarle  County,  with  great 
success.  When  quite  young  he  married  in 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  on  the  30th  of  Decem 
ber,  1857,  Miss  Pauline  Clark,  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  Beverly  L.  Clark,  of  Kentucky,  and 
late  Minister  to  Central  America,  He  settled 
then  in  Goodson,  Washington  County,  Vir 
ginia,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profes 
sion  with  extraordinary  success,  soon  ranking 
as  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  bar, 
and  among  that  number  Colonel  Goodson 
stood  foremost. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  49 

In  1860,  signs  of  national  troubles  began 
to  be  visible  in  the  horizon.  The  seeds  of 
discord  which  the  fanatics  of  New  England 
had  been  sowing  for  forty  years  had  so  thor 
oughly  poisoned  the  minds  of  the  people  in 
the  Northern  States  that  a  civil  war  seemed 
inevitable.  The  people  of  Virginia  had 
exhausted  every  means  of  saving  the  country 
from  the  whirlpool  into  which  the  New  Eng 
land  politicians  and  fanatics  were  driving  it, 
and  there  was  no  alternative  left  for  the  sons 
of  the  South  but  to  buckle  on  their  armor 
and  fight  it  out.  Mosby  was  among  the  first 
who  responded  to  the  call  of  the  Governor 
for  troops  to  resist  the  invaders  of  her  soil, 
by  shouldering  his  gun  and  volunteering  as  a 
private  in  the  First  Regiment  of  Virginia 
Cavalry.  His  popularity  was  so  great,  and 
his  friends  reposed  such  confidence  in  him, 
that  the  citizens  of  the  county  presented  him 
with  a  fine  charger,  to  commence  with,  and 
well  has  he  proved  himself  worthy  of  that 
confidence. 

But  I  must  return  to  my  narrative.  Our 
Cavalry  were  picketing  in  Fairfax  and  Prince 
William  Counties  in  March  1862.  The  Yan 
kees  commenced  their  advance.  Mosby,  while 


50  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

out  scouting  near  the  Potomac  Kiver,  saw  a 
large  column  of  the  enemy  moving  in  a 
strange  direction  ;  he  returned  immediately, 
reported  the  fact  to  General  Stuart,  and  vol 
unteered  to  ascertain  the  object  of  it.  Stuart 
gave  him  two  men,  and  out  they  started.  He 
penetrated  the  enemy's  lines.  He  went  to 
General  Heintzelman's  headquarters,  and  just 
missed  him.  While  there  he  found  out,  from 
officers  on  Heintzelman's  Staff,  the  whole  of 
McClellan's  plans.  Distrusting  them,  he  was 
provided  with  passes,  and  went  down  to  see 
for  himself.  He  found  their  statement  cor 
rect.  He  returned  to  Stuart,  and  reported 
McClellan  transporting  his  troops  to  the 
Peninsula — and  the  column  he  saw  moving 
was  to  deceive  our  army.  In  consequence  of 
this  intelligence,  Johnson  and  Beauregard 
determined  on  an  immediate  evacuation  of 
Manassas  and  Centreville.  In  a  few  hours 
the  Confederate  army  was  moving  to  the 
Peninsula  via  Richmond.  The  evacuation 
was  not  an  hour  too  soon.  By  the  time 
Longstreet  had  arrived  at  Williamsburg  to 
reenforce  Magruder,  McClellan  with  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty-five  thousand  men,  had  landed 
at  Fortress  Monroe  and  was  moving  up  the 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  51 

Peninsula.  An  engagement  ensued  at  Wil- 
liamsburg,  a  portion  of  McClellan's  army  was 
driven  back  by  one  division  under  Longstreet, 
who  was  compelled  to  fall  back  on  account 
of  the  danger  of  being  flanked  by  the  enemy's 
gunboats.  At  West  Point  General  Franklin's 
corps  was  repulsed  by  a  Texas  brigade.  Yet 
McClelhm  telegraphed  to  Washington,  that 
he  was  "  pushing  Johnston  to  the  wall,"  and 
"  that  a  few  hours'  march  would  bring  him  to 
Richmond.'1  A  great  deal  of  apprehension 
that  the  city  would  be  evacuated,  prevailed  in 
Richmond.  General  Johnson  determined  by 
one  bold  stroke  to  annihilate  his  adversary. 

The  battle  of  Seven  Pines  was  fought,  and 
but  for  the  wounding  of  General  Johnston  on 
the  second  day's  fight,  there  can  be  no  ques 
tion  in  the  minds  of  any  military  man,  that 
McClellan's  army  would  have  been  destroyed. 
The  watercourses'  ran  high,  and  the  country 
was  flooded  with  water.  Our  men  fought  in 
the  swamps  with  water  and  mud  up  to  their 
knees.  General  Johnston  was  wounded  Sun 
day  morning,  the  second  day's  fighting.  On 
Saturday  the  battle  commenced  before  noon. 
The  thunder  of  artillery  and  rattling  of  mus 
ketry  could  be  distinctly  heard  in  the  city. 


52  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Hundreds  of  citizens  flocked  to  the  roof  of 
the  Capitol  from  which,  with  the  aid  of 
glasses,  could  be  seen  in  the  swamps  of  the 
Chickahominy,  the  bursting  of  the  shells,  &c. 
The  battles  ceased  Sunday  about  ten  o'clock 
A.M.  General  Johnston  was  carried  into 
Richmond  to  receive  medical  aid,  his  wound 
not  being  very  dangerous  ;  but  he  got  three  of 
his  ribs  broken  by  falling  from  his  horse. 
General  Lee  assumed  command  of  the  army. 
He  reorganized  it —  and  enforced  discipline, 
recruited  his  army,  and  fortified  himself. 
Fears  were  entertained  in  Richmond  by  the 
citizens  that  McClellan  would  get  in.  Large 
numbers  left  the  place ;  some  ran  off  and  left 
their  houses  vacant,  while  others  sold  out  at 
a  great  sacrifice. 

About  this  time  the  name  of  Jcb  Stuart  had 
got  to  be  a  terror  to  the  enemy,  and  while 
McClellan  was  lying  around  Richmond, 
Mosby  proposed  to  General  Stuart  to  make 
a  raid  around  McClellan's  army.  Stuart 
requested  him  to  put  his  plans  in  writing, 
which  he  did,  and  Stuart  submitted  them  to 
General  Lee.  He  approved  it  and  author 
ized  Mosby  to  take  as  many  men  as  he 
wanted.  He  took  two  with  him,  and  passing 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  53 

through  Dr.  Price's  farm  was  chased  by  the 
Second  United  States  Dragoons  until  dark, 
and  the  party  escaped.  The  scouting  was 
resumed  the  next  day.  When  near  the  Rich 
mond  and  York  River  Railroad,  they  met  the 
same  regiment  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle. 
There  was  no  chance  of  escape,  and  know 
ing  their  dread  of  Stuart  he  rode  out  with  his 
men  in  full  view  of  the  enemy,  and  raising 
himself  in  his  saddle,  and  looking  back  and 
beckoning  with  his  hat,  cried  out  at  the  top 
of  his  voice,  which  made  the  very  welkin 
ring,  "  Here  they  are  Jeb  !  "  The  enemy,  con 
cluding  Stuart  was  in  the  woods  near  by  with 
his  whole  cavalry  force,  broke  and  ran  away, 
with  Mosby  and  his  two  men  after  them. 
The  Major  of  the  regiment  was  killed,  and 
his  fine  gray  horse  captured  and  brought  to 
Stuart's  headquarters.  Mosby  was  compli 
mented  for  this  daring  act,  and  presented 
with  the  horse. 

6* 


CHAPTER   V. 


HOBBY'S  RAID  ROUND  THE  ENEMY— IS  TAKEN  PRISONER  —  BATTLE 
OF  HARRISON'S  LANDINii  —  STONEWALL  JACKSON'S  VISIT  TO 
RICHMOND  —  MOS1JV  EXCHANGED  —  POPE  DEFEATED  —  1IOOKEK 
DEFEATED. 


LEE  and  Stuart  being  convinced  of  the  prac 
ticability  of  Mosby's  plan  for  a  raid  round 
the  enemy's  army,  one  was  determined  on. 
The  country  is  familiar  with  that  brilliant 
achievement,  how  Stuart  and  his  men  swam 
the  rising  Chickahominy,  &c.,  &c.,  and  re 
turned  to  our  lines  without  losing  a  man. 
Mosby  was  Stuart's  guide  on  that  occasion. 
General  Lee  having  completed  all  his  ar 
rangements  for  an  advance,  started  Mosby  with 
important  verbal  dispatches,  to  General  Jack 
son,  and  while  resting  his  horse  at  Beaver 
Dam  Station,  on  the  Virginia  Central  Hail- 
road,  the  enemy  dashed  in  and  took  him  pris 
oner.  Being  suspected  to  be  a  courier  with 
important  dispatches,  he  was  searched  dili- 

(54) 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  55 

gently  ;  but  none  were  found,  and  he  fright 
ened  the  enemy  away  from  the  railroad  by  tell 
ing  them  a  train  of  cars,  loaded  with  infantry 
and  artillery,  would  be  there  in  a  few  minutes. 
They  retreated  precipitately.  Mosby  was  car 
ried  to  General  McCook's  headquarters,  and 
was  asked  where  Jackson  and  Stuart  were. 
"  He  didnt  know"  and  "  couldn't  see  it"  He 
was  then  sent  to  Washington  guarded  by  seven 
men.  His  fame  as  one  of  Stuart's  principal 
scouts  had  already  reached  the  Yankee  army. 
He  was  kindly  treated.  Lee  was  concentrat 
ing  his  whole  strength  around  Richmond,  and 
his  army  did  not  exceed  eighty  thousand  men. 
While  strengthening  himself  thus,  Jackson 
was  sweeping  everything  before  him  in  the 
Valley,  and  as  a  blind  to  the  enemy,  General 
Lee  dispatched  Whiting's  division  to  Staunton 
to  reen force  him ;  they,  however,  returned  by 
rail  on  the  next  train. 

General  Lee's  plans  being  now  completed, 
by  an  arrangement,  Jackson,  after  having 
driven  the  enemy  out  of  the  Valley,  swept, 
as  if  by  magic,  down  the  railroad  to  General 
Lee's  left,  and  rested  his  army  six  hours  at 
Ashland  on  the  Fredericksburg  and  Potomac 
Railroad.  One  hour  after  his  arrival  there, 


56  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

he  rode  into  Richmond  at  midnight,  with  no 
one  but  an  orderly,  conferred  with  the  Presi 
dent  and  General  Lee,  and  returned  to  com 
mence  the  attack  at  daylight  the  next  morn 
ing.  The  signal  for  the  attack  was  the  firing 
of  three  guns.  General  Lee  commenced  the 
attack,  the  signal  was  given,  the  firing  of 
three  guns,  and  promptly  did  Jackson  respond. 
Then  the  fighting  extended  along  the  whole 
line  of  both  armies.  The  Yankees  unexpect 
edly  found  an  army  in  their  rear,  as  if  they 
had  dropped  down  from  the  clouds.  The 
utmost  confusion  prevailed  in  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy.  On  pressed  the  Stonewall,  his  men 
mowing  down  the  enemy.  Their  battle-cry 
"  Jackson,"  acted  as  magic  on  the  enemy. 
They  could  not  realize  that  an  army  which, 
twenty-fours  before,  was  five  hundred  miles 
from  them,  with  the  Big  Blue  Ridge  Moun 
tains  between,  would  now  be  behind  them, 
inflicting  the  same  deadly  blows  on  them  they 
had  dealt  on  their  friends  in  the  Valley.  Yet 
it  was  a  fearful  reality  to  them.  They  re 
treated  ;  they  fled  like  chaff  before  the  wind. 
McClellan,  who  proudly  boasted  he  would 
capture*  the  city  without  firing  a  gun,  was 

*  See  liis  Dispatches. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  57 

now  skulking,  like  a  whipped  dog,  in  the  mo 
rass  around  Harrison's  Landing. 

Richmond  was  free  once  more  from  the 
menace  of  a  merciless  foe.  The  people,  who 
a  few  days  before,  were  gloomy  and  almost 
despaired  of  ever  realizing  their  hope  of  an 
independent  government  by  reason  of  the  disas 
ters  to  our  arms  in  the  West,  under  the  great 
Albert  Sydney  Johnston,  who  sacrificed  his 
life  in  vindicating  his  character  as  a  soldier, 
against  the  malicious  and  dishonorable  insin 
uations  of  the  politicians  and  croakers,  and 
the  fall  of  Mclntosh  and  McCullough  in  Ar 
kansas,  were  now  reanimated.  Business  re 
vived,  and  citizens  who  had  abandoned  their 
property  returned.  Recruits  began  to  come 
in  rapidly. 

The  Sunday  after  the  seven  days'  battle 
around  Richmond,  Generals  Lee,  Jackson, 
Longstreet,  Polk,  and  others,  attended  divine 
worship  in  Richmond.  This  was  Jackson's 
first  visit  to  Richmond  since  the  commence 
ment  of  the  war.  The  anxiety  of  the  people 
to  see  this  remarkable  man  was  so  great,  that 
as  soon  as  it  was  known  he  was  at  Dr.  Hayes' 
church,  a  large  crowd  assembled  in  front  of 
it  to  see  him  when  he  came  out.  Nothing 


58  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

would  satisfy  them  short  of  shaking  hands 
with  him.  And  so  strong  was  their  attach 
ment  for  him  they  cut  all  the  buttons  off  his. 
coat.  The  crowd  was  increasing  every  mo 
ment,  but  the  crazy  General  would  not  grat 
ify  all  of  them.  He  broke  through  the 
crowd,  and,  taking  the  arm  of  a  friend,  went 
home  with  him.  The  next  day  he  returned 
to  his  division. 

Heretofore  the  Yankees  would  entertain.no 
proposition  leading  to  an  exchange  of  pris 
oners,  but  now  their  great  "  Little  Mac1'  had 
been  beaten  so  badly  and  lost  nearly  half  of 
his  army,  they  were  inclined  to  come  to 
terms. on  that  point.  Every  available  ware 
house  and  vacant  building  was  filled  with 
their  wounded  and  prisoners ;  and  they  had 
become  not  only  a  burthen  on  the  Govern 
ment,  but  a  nuisance  to  the  people.  Accord 
ingly,  a  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners 
was  agreed  upon,  and  amongst  the  first  ex 
changed,  was  John  S.  Mosby.  The  vessel  he 
was  on,  when  it  reached  Fortress  Monroe, 
was  detained  several  days  in  consequence  of 
important  military  movements  going  on. 
During  that  detention  none  of  the  prisoners 
were  allowed  to  go  on  deck.  Mosby,  looking 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  59 

through  one  of  the  port-holes  of  the  vessel, 
discovered  vessels,  loaded  with  troops,  mov 
ing  ;  and  he  determined,  if  possible,  to  find 
out  what  it  meant.  Conceiving  the  idea  that 
McClellan  was  evacuating  Harrison's  Land 
ing,  he  by  some  means  got  on  deck,  and  saw 
the  captain  of  the  vessel.  A  conversation 
ensued  between  them,  and  Mosby's  voice  hav 
ing  a  little  of  that  twang  which  is  peculiar  to 
the  Yankees,  he  easily  ingratiated  himself 
into  the  confidence  of  the  captain  of  the  boat, 
who  told  him  he  had  been  engaged  a  week 
in  carrying  troops  from  Harrison's  Landing. 
The  next  day  the  vessel  he  was  on  started  for 
City  Point,  where  he  was  exchanged.  He 
mounted  a  horse  as  soon  as  he  got  ashore,  and 
rode  that  night  to  General  Lee's  headquar 
ters,  and  informed  him  of  the  movements  of 
the  enemy.  General  Lee  complimented  him 
for  his  intelligence,  &c.,  &c.  The  next  morn 
ing  the  whole  Confederate  army  was  set  in 
motion,  and  on  the  march.  Richmond  was  re 
lieved  of  the  swarms  of  soldiers  that  infested 
the  place  while  the  army  was  around  it. 
There  is  nothing  more  injurious  to  an  army 
than  to  be  quartered  near  a  large  city. 

Soon   after    these    important    events    had 


60  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

occurred  around  Richmond,  McClellan  was 
relieved  of  his  command,  and  General  Pope, 
the  General  whose  "  headquarters  were  in 
the  saddle,  and  whose  back  was  never  turned 
on  the  enemy,"  took  command  of  the  finest 
army  the  sun  ever  shone  upon,  —  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  My  readers  are  perfectly 
familiar  with  his  brilliant  but  brief  career; 
how  he  went  up  like  a  sky-rocket  and  came 
down  like  a  stick ;  how  the  second  battle  of 
Manassas  would  have  been  won  had  certain 
generals  carried  out  certain  orders  of  his, 
&c.,  &c.  Jackson  played  the  same  prom 
inent  part  in  this  battle  that  he  did  in  those 
around  Richmond.  While  Longstreet  en 
gaged  the  enemy  in  Thoroughfare  Gap,  Jack 
son  crossed  the  Bull  Run  Mountains  lower 
down,  at  Aldie.  Longstreet  then  threw  a 
small  force  through  Hop  well  Gap,  thus  flank 
ing  the  enemy.  The  Yankees  retreated  in 
confusion,  and  were  followed  up  by  Longstreet 
with  his  whole  force.  The  thundering  of  the 
artillery  in  the  distance  told  with  what  fury 
the  battle  was  raging.  Jackson  was  hard- 
pressed,  but  his  men  stood  their  ground. 
Soon  Longstreet  reenforced  him,  and  the 
slaughter  of  the  enemy  then  it  is  fearful  to 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  61 

think  of  now.  They  were  routed  ;  Pope  him 
self  left  all  his  personal  effects,  including 
official  papers,  &c.,  and  escaped  in  his  shirt 
sleeves.  In  his  flight  he  left  his  sword  behind 
to  be  captured  by  Lieutenant  Charles  Min- 
nigerode,  son  of  Rev.  Mr.  Minnigerode,  pastor 
of  St.  Paul's  Church  in  Richmond. 

In  Richmond  the  greatest  enthusiasm  pre 
vailed,  and  hopes  were  entertained  of  a  speedy 
termination  of  the  war.  Trade  revived,  and 
new  recruits  came  in  to  give  the  invasion  of 
the  South  the  finishing  blow.  After  a  short 
time  of  rest  given  the  army,  General  Lee  in 
vaded  Maryland.  The  battles  of  Boonsboro', 
Antietam,  and  Sharpsburg  were  fought.  The 
hard  fighting  of  this  campaign,  with  the  long 
and  rapid  marches,  had  nearly  exhausted  the 
troops.  At  Antietam  the  battle  was  a  drawn 
one,  and  no  victory  to  the  enemy.  If  they 
claim  it,  why  did  not  the  enemy  follow  up 
their  success  ]  They  incurred  such  a  loss  as 
to  render  a  pursuit  impracticable.  General 
Lee  recrossed  the  Potomac,  and  took  a  posi 
tion  on  the  Rappahannock  and  went  into 
winter  quarters.  Fighting  Joe  Hooker  was 
put  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
He  occupied  Falmouth  opposite  Fredericks- 


62  MOSBY  AND  SIS  MEN. 

burg,  and  attempted  to  scatter  Lee's  army  at 
the  Wilderness  in  the  winter.  He  led  his 
men  into  a  slaughter-pen.  They  were  horribly 
butchered,  and  left  thousands  of  prisoners. 
Great  alarm  prevailed  in  Washington.  The 
President  and  his  Cabinet  prepared  at  once 
to  leave  the  city.  Urgent  appeals  were 
made  to  the  people  to  send  in  reinforcements 
to  defend  the  Capital.  The  draft  was  inad 
equate  to  furnish  men  fast  enough  for  South 
ern  bullets.  The  Governors  of  the  different 
Northern  States  (particularly  the  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania)  called  out  the  whole  militia 
force  of  the  State.  This  battle  of  the  Wil 
derness  was  the  severest  blow  the  Yankees 
had  yet  received.  The  Border  States  were 
apprehensive  the  rebels  would  wage  a  war  of 
invasion  the  next  campaign.  They  were  not 
mistaken  in  their  apprehensions  ;  for  during 
the  remainder  of  the  winter  General  Lee  was 
concentrating  all  his  available  men  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  the  war  into  the  enemy's 
own  country. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


MOSBY  RECEIVES  HIS  COMMISSION  AS  CAPTAIN  — KILPATRICK  AND 
PAIILGREN  — ALAKM  IN  RICHMOND  —  HOOKER'S  DEFEAT  — DEATH 
OF  STONEWALL  JACKSON  —  SORROW  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  PEOPLE. 


IT  was  this  winter,  or  rather  during  the 
month  of  March,  that  Mosby  received 
his  commission  as  captain  in  the  Confederate 
States  army,  and  authority  to  wage  a  partisan 
ranger  war  on  the  enemy.  General  Stuart 
first  gave  him  fifteen  men,  and  then  increased 
the  number  to  thirty,  with  privilege  to  select 
his  own  men.  Generals  Lee  and  Stuart  both 
knew  the  value  of  Mosby  as  a  scout,  and  the 
invaluable  service  he  would  render  them  in 
that  capacity.  They  also  authorized  him  to 
raise  his  company  to  the  full  quota.  So 
when  the  spring  campaign  opened  he  had  but 
thirty  men. 

While  these  preparations  were  going  on, 
Burnside  took  command  of  the  Union  army, 

(63) 


64  MOSSY  AND  PIS  MEN. 

then  lying  on  the  hills  of  Stafford  opposite 
Fredericksburg.  While  there,  Kilpatrick 
and  Dahlgren  make  their  celebrated  raid  on 
Richmond,  and  in  which  the  latter  lost  his 
life.  On  Dahlgren's  body  was  found  a  copy 
of  the  orders  he  was  directed  to  execute. 
The  substance  of  them  was,  they  were  to 
institute  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the 
innocent  people  of  Richmond,  including  the 
President  and  his  Cabinet,  and  to  set  fire  to 
the  public  buildings.  But  Providence  decreed 
otherwise.  Dahlgren  lost  his  way  and  was 
obliged  to  fly  through  the  lower  counties.  In 
King  and  Queen  County  there  were  a  few  reg 
ular  soldiers  at  their  homes  on  furlough,  who 
got  together  and  determined  to  harass  and  do 
them  all  the  damage  they  could,  and  knowing 
the  road  Dahlgren  would  take,  they  deter 
mined  '  to  lie  in  ambush  for  him.  Presently 
the  Federal  troops  came  along,  Dahlgren 
with  four  or  five  men  in  advance.  Hearing  a 
rustling  in  the  leaves,  Dahlgren  demands  a 
surrender.  The  response  he  received  was  a 
volley  from  the  Confederates.  Dahlgren  fell 
from  his  horse  lifeless.  His  comrades  fell 
back  to  the  main  column,  and  without  a 
guide,  in  a  hostile  country,  and  their  main 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  65 

reliance,  Dahlgren,  killed,  the  remaining  offi 
cers  held  a  consultation,  and  concluded  to 
surrender,  first  killing  their  horses  and  de 
stroying  their  weapons.  Some  prisoners  of 
ours  they  held,  however,  persuaded  them  not 
to  do  such  an  insane  act ;  that  if  they  did, 
they  would  forfeit  the  respect  due  to  prison 
ers  of  war,  and  would  most  certainly  be 
killed.  Their  councils  prevailed,  and  they 
surrendered  the  next  morning  to  thirty  men 

under  the  command  of  Captain ,  and 

were  marched  up  to  Richmond  and  furnished 
with  accommodations  in  the  Libby.  The 
orders  were  published,  and  the  citizens  of 
Richmond  were  perfectly  amazed  at  the  fate 
they  had  escaped,  and  could  scarcely  believe 
that  any  one  in  the  nineteenth  century  was 
capable  of  such  a  diabolical  scheme.  Dahl- 
gren's  body  —  minus  his  cork  leg  —  was 
brought  to  Richmond  for  identification,  and 
buried  in  Potter's  Field. 

Kilpatrick,  however,  was  more  fortunate. 
He  penetrated  our  lines  on  the  Brooke  Turn 
pike  as  far  as  the  Hon.  James  Lyon's  resi 
dence,  and  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Richmond, 
and  in  full  view  of  its  State  House,  spires, 
and  public  buildings.  On  'reaching  this 

6* 


66  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

point,  the  last  line  of  breastworks  between 
them  and  the  city,  and  behind  which  there 
were  not  one  hundred  men,  he  threw  himself 
at  the  head  of  his  men,  pulled  off  his  hat, 
and  pointing  with  it  to  the  city,  cried  out, 
"  Follow  me,  men,  ami  in  five  minutes  we  will 
have  the  city.'"  Why  they  did  not  follow  their 
general  I  have  never  learned.  They  could 
not  realize  the  fact  that  the  city  at  that  mo 
ment  lay  at  their  mercy.  They  seemed  spell 
bound,  and  sat  on  their  horses  like  mummies. 
They  doubtless  would  have  followed  their 
general,  but  they  must  have  imagined  there 
were  some  masked  batteries  between  that  point 
and  the  city,  but  no  piece  of  artillery  was 
nearer  them  than  the  city,  and  only  one  com 
pany  of  infantry  behind  the  breastworks  at 
the  time  they  were  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle 
before  them.  If  they  had  got  into  the  city, 
I  doubt  very  much  whether  any  would  have 
got  out  alive.  Every  man  in  the  city  had  a 
musket,  and  in  two  minutes'  time  artillery 
could  have  been  placed  in  position  to  have 
raked  every  street.  The  demonstration  of 
the  enemy  at  this  point  was  entirely  un 
expected  by  those  in  authority.  They  had 
had  no  intimation  of  this  raid,  for  when  this 


M08BT  AND  HIS  MEN.  67 

demonstration  was  made  there  was  not  a 
single  piece  of  artillery  behind  this  inner 
line  of  works.  -  The  greatest  excitement  pre 
vailed  in  Richmond.  The  town  hell  was 
rung,  and  the  citizens  were  soon  under  arms 
and  marching  out  to  the  intrenchments  by 
companies  and  battalions,  to  resist  and  drive 
back  the  incendiaries  and  invaders. 

This  winter  the  star  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  was  at  its  zenith.  The 
army  lay  on  the  banks  of  the  Rappahannock 
River,  prouder  and  more  defiant  than  ever. 
General  Hooker  had  assumed  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Before  the  Con 
gressional  Committee  on  the  War,  Hooker 
testified  he  was  the  only  man  in  the  North 
who  could  whip  General  Lee,  and  that  if  he 
had  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  he 
would  march  rough-shod  over  Lee,  and  take 
Richmond  without  any  difficulty.  He  would 
have  got  there,  too,  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  bat 
for  that  lamentable  occurrence,  the  accidental 
shooting,  by  our  own  men,  of  that  hero  of  the 
war,  Stonewall  Jackson.  Everything  being 
ready  with  the  enemy  for  an  advance,  pon 
toons  were  thrown  across  the  river,  the  Yan 
kee  army  crossed,  and  our  batteries  opened 


68  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

on  them.  The  river  was  filled  with  killed 
and  wounded  ;  large  numbers  were  drowned. 
Three  times  they  attempted  fo  cross  before 
they  succeeded  ;  then  ensued  the  bloody  bat 
tle  of  Chancellorsville,  which  my  reader  is 
perfectly  familiar  with,  and  in  which  that 
great  Napoleon  of  the  war,  Thomas  Jonathan 
Jackson,  fell  by  the  hand  of  his  own  men, 
and  in  that  fall  the  star  of  the  Confederacy 
began  to  wane,  and  finally  set  to  rise  no 
more,  at  Appomattox  Court  House,  Va.,  on 
the  6th  of  April,  1865. 

His  biographers  will  do  more  justice  to 
him  than  I  can ;  but  had  he  not  fallen  that 
night,  General  Hooker's  whole  army  would 
have  surrendered  the  next  morning  or  been 
killed.  However,  so  far,  it  had  been  a  most 
complete  victory.  The  enemy  lost  over 
thirty  thousand,  killed,  wounded,  and  prison 
ers.  The  news  of  Jackson's  being  wounded 
spread  rapidly  through  the  army,  and  so 
great  was  the  confidence  of  the  army,  and 
the  respect  of  the  commanding  general  (Lee) 
for  him,  that  the  battle  was  not  renewed  the 
next  morning.  Hooker's  generals  declining 
to  lead  their  men  into  such  slaughter-pens 
another  day,  recrossed  the  Eappahannock  the 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  69 

next  day  with  his  whole  army.  Jackson  lin 
gered  only  a  few  days,  and  when  he  passed 
from  this  earth  there  was  one  universal 
shriek  throughout  the  land.  His  death 
sounded  in  the  ears  of  the  Southerners  like 
the  death-knell  of  the  Confederacy.  His 
remains  were  brought  to  Richmond  on  a 
special  train,  carried  to  the  Governor's  man 
sion,  and  there  embalmed  the  next  day.  The 
most  imposing  and  the  largest  procession,  mil 
itary  and  civil,  ever  seen  in  Richmond,  bore 
the  body  to  the  Capitol,  where  it  lay  in  state 
until  the  next  morning.  All  the  departments 
of  the  Government  were  closed,  and  business 
entirely  suspended,  and  bells  tolled  while  the 
procession  was  moving.  It  was  indeed  a 
melancholy  sight  to  see  the  thousands  of  old 
men,  women,  and  even  soldiers,  as  the  coffin 
passed  into  the  hearse,  drop  the  tears  of  sor 
row  as  if  some  dear  member  of  their  family 
had  died.  The  procession  consisted  of  part 
of  General  Pickett's  division  of  veterans, 
artillery  and  cavalry  and  citizens,  together 
with  the  President  and  members  of  the  Cab 
inet.  During  that  afternoon  some  thirty 
thousand  persons  passed  in  single  file  the 
metallic  car  to  get  a  last  farewell  glimpse  of 


70  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

the  features  of  him  who  only  a  few  hours 
before  had  made  the  North  tremble  and  the 
world  gaze  with  wonder  and  delight  at  his 
deeds  of  valor. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


LEE'S  INVASION  OF  THE  NORTH  —  MOSBY'S  CAPTURE  OF  GENERAL, 
STOUGHTON  — THE  CONFEDERATE  SOLDIER  FROM  NEW  ENGLAND 
—  GENERAL  ORDER  BY  GENERAL  STUART  — CAPTURE  OF  WAGONS, 
ETC.  — REMARKABLE  ESCAPE  OF  MOSBY. 


result  of  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville 
-*-  again  produced  the  greatest  excitement 
and  alarm  in  Washington.  A  new  draft  was 
ordered,  from  apprehension  of  an  invasion 
by  Lee.  Hooker's  army  having  been  nearly 
destroyed  in  the  Wilderness  and  Chancellors- 
ville  battles,  there  was  nothing  in  his  way  to 
prevent  Lee  from  going  into  Pennsylvania. 
He  accordingly  began  to  recruit  and  marshal 
his  forces  for  an  invasion  of  the  North  when 
the  season  opened.  Mosby,  who  had  been 
sent  to  the  Fauquier  Valley,  had  performed 
prodigies.  Touching  his  capture  of  General 
Stoughton  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  he  thus 
wrote  to  a  friend  in  Richmond  :  — 

"  You  have  already  seen  something  in  the 

(71) 


72  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

newspapers  of  my  recent  raid  on  the  Yan 
kees,  though  I  see  they  all  call  me  Moseley 
instead  of  Mosby.  I  had  only  twenty  men 
under  my  command.  I  penetrated  about  ten 
miles  in  their  lines,  rode  right  up  to  the  gen 
eral's  headquarters  surrounded  by  infantry, 
artillery,  and  cavalry,  took  him  out  of  his 
bed,  and  brought  him  off.  I  walked  into  his 
room  with  two  of  my  men,  and  shaking  him 
in  bed,  said,  '  General,  get  up.1  He  rose  up ; 
and,  rubbing  his  eyes,  asked  what  was  the 
meaning  of  all  this.  I  replied,  '  It  means,  sir, 
that  Stuart's  cavalry  are  in  possession  of  this 
place,  and  you  are  a  prisoner.1  We  also  sur 
rounded  the  headquarters  of  Colonel  Wynd- 
ham,  acting  brigadier-general  of  cavalry,  but 
unfortunately  he  had  gone  to  Washington. 
We  got  his  assistant  adjutant-general,  and 
also  his  aid,  an  Austrian,  Baron  Woodsan. 
There  was  an  immense  amount  of  all  kinds 
of  stores  collected  there,  but  I  was  unable  to 
destroy  them.  *  *  *  It  was  my  intention  and 
desire  to  reach  the  Court  House  by  twelve 
o'clock  that  night,  but  it  being  very  dark  we 
lost  our  way,  thereby  losing  two  hours.  I  did 
not  stay  in  the  place  more  than  one  hour. 
On  our  return  to  Fauquier,  we  passed  within 


A.   K.  KI('!I.\i;i»> 


MOSSY*  AND  HIS  MEN.  73 

two  hundred  yards  of  the  fortifications  at 
Centreville.  We  were  hailed  by  the  sentinel. 
One  of  the  prisoners,  Captain  Barker  of  New 
York,  tried  to  escape  by  making  a  break  for 
the  picket,  but  a  pistol-shot  from  one  of  the 
party  brought  him  back.  In  the  vicinity  of 
Fairfax  Court  House  were  encamped  our  cav 
alry  and  our  infantry  brigade.  We  easily 
captured  the  guards  around  the  town,  as  they 
never  dreamed  we  were  anybody  but  Yankees 
until  they  saw  pistols  pointed  at  their  heads, 
with  a  demand  to  surrender." 

The  scout  on  this  raid  was  a  New  Eng- 
lander,  —  a  native  of  the  State  of  Maine,  and 
a  member  of  the  Fifth  New  York  Cavalry, 
who  fought  with  distinction  under  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  On  the  proclamation  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln,  liberating  the  negroes,  and  the 
inauguration  of  drafting  men  for  the  army,  he 
refused  to  serve  their  cause  any  longer.  He 
was  as  fine  a  specimen  of  a  man  as  I  ever 
saw.  Powerful  in  frame,  a  splendid  swords 
man,  and  good  shot,  he  was  eminent  in 
bravery  and  courage.  He,  however,  could 
not  fight  for  the  eternal  negro.  He  took 
French  leave  of  them,  and  came  over  and 

7 


74  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

offered  his  services  to  Mosby.  Mosby  was 
a  little  shy  of  him  at  first,  fearing  some  trap 
had  been  set  to  catch  him,  and  the  Yankees 
sent  Ames  over  to  be  the  instrument  in  accom 
plishing  it.  So  he  declined  to  take  him  at 
first,  but  gave  him  authority  to  prove  the  sin 
cerity  of  his  intentions.  Ames  went  out  and 
entered  the  enemy's  camps  in  the  night-time, 
gained  important  information,  and  returned 
the  next  morning  with  two  or  three  horses 
and  prisoners.  It  was  on  one  of  these  expe 
ditions  that  he  determined  to  capture  his 
general.  Mosby  being  convinced  by  these 
acts  that  he  was  all  right,  "  took  him  to  his 
bosom."  Ames  being  perfectly  familiar  with 
all  the  picket-posts,  the  position  and  strength 
of  the  troops  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  and 
the  unguarded  points,  Mosby  took  him  on 
this  raid,  and  the  capture  was  made  without 
firing  a  shot.  After  this,  he  enjoyed  Mos- 
by's  fullest  confidence,  and  was  taken  by  him 
on  his  most  perilous  expeditions.  The  bold 
ness  and  success  of  this  enterprise  attracted 
the  attention  not  only  of  the  whole  South  and 
the  army,  but  elicited  from  General  Stuart 
the  following  flattering  order :  — 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  75 

HEADQUARTERS  CAVALRY  DIVISION, 
March  12,  1863. 

GENERAL  ORDERS. 

Captain  John  S.  Mosby  has  foi*  a  long  time  at 
tracted  the  attention  of  his  generals  by  his  boldness, 
skill,  and  success,  so  signally  displayed  in  his  numer 
ous  forays  upon  the  invaders  of  his  native  soil. 

None  know  his  daring  enterprise  and  dashing  he 
roism  better  than  those  foul  invaders,  those  strangers 
themselves  to  such  noble  traits. 

His  last  brilliant  exploit  —  the  capture  of  Brig 
adier-General  Stoughton,  U.  S.  A.,  two  captains,  and 
thirty  other  prisoners,  together  with  their  arms, 
equipments,  and  fifty-eight  horses  — justifies  this 
recognition  in  General  Orders.  This  feat,  unparal 
leled  in  the  war,  was  performed  in  the  midst  of  the 
enemy's  troops,  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  without  loss 
or  injury. 

The  gallant  band  of  Captain  Mosby  shares  his 
glory,  as  they  did  the  danger  of  this  enterprise,  and 
are  worthy  of  such  a  leader. 

J.  E.  B.  STUART,  Major- General  Commanding. 

This  bold  enterprise  stamped  Mosby  at 
once  as  another  rising  military  character,  and 
in  due  course  of  time  to  rank  with  Stuart, 
Morgan,  Forrest,  and  the  eminent  cavalry 
leaders.  As  an  appreciation  of  this  piece  of 
service,  he  was  promoted  to  a  majority,  and 
designated  his  battalion  as  the  43rd  Virginia 
Battalion  of  Cavalry. 


76  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

On  the  22d  of  March,  1863,  Mosby,  with 
thirty  men,  attacked  the  enemy  at  Bristow 
Station,  on  the%  Orange  and  Alexandria  Rail 
road.  He  captured  four  commissioned  offi 
cers  and  twenty-one  privates  without  receiving 
the  least  injury.  But,  owing  to  the  diffi 
culty  of  getting  out,  he  paroled  the  privates, 
and  brought  off  only  the  officers,  who  were 
sent  to  Richmond.  In  the  spring  of  1863. 
we  find  Lee  on  the  banks  of  the  Ilappahan- 
nock,  preparing  his  army  for  the  invasion  of 
the  enemy's  own  country.  Mosby,  with  his 
headquarters  in  Fauquier  County,  was  harass 
ing  the  enemy  around  Washington,  Alexan 
dria,  and  the  line  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad.  He  had  men  with  him  peculiarly 
fitted  for  that  kind  of  service,  men  remarkable 
for  their  courage  and  acuteness.  There  were 
amongst  them  three  brothers  from  Fairfax 
County,  who  served  with  him  in  the  regular 
service,  and  John  Bush  and  Sam  Underwood. 
These  boys  used  to  live  in  the  Yankee  camps, 
and  always  had  plenty  of  greenbacks.  John, 
one  night,  while  scouting  between  Fairfax 
'and  Alexandria,  had  a  cow-bell  around  his 
neck,  and  went  into  their  camp  on  all-fours, 
and  brought  out  five  of  the  finest  horses  he 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  77 

could  find,  all  belonging  to  officers.  Morning 
came ;  and  the  horses  were  missed,  and  could 
be  found  nowhere.  Upon  inquiry,  and  inves 
tigating  the  matter,  to  their  mortification  they 
found  they  had  been  duped,  which  so  pro 
voked  them  that  the  commanding  officer  or 
dered  the  bells  to  be  taken  off  every  cow  in 
the  neighborhood  for  ten  miles  around.  Poor 
fellow !  he  lost  his  life  by  bushwhackers 
while  on  one  of  these  expeditions  near  Alex 
andria. 

In  April,  1863,  when  scouting  with  ten 
men,  and  near  Centreville,  he  heard  of  a 
wagon-train  passing  up  to  the  army  at  War- 
rentou.  He  rode  into  the  town  in  the  night 
time,  and  reported  to  the  commanding  officer 
as  being  in  charge  of  a  squad  of  men  sent  to 
guard  the  wagon- train.  The  officer  in  com 
mand  put  Mosby  and  his  squad  to  guard  the 
rear  of  the  train,  which  they  did  successfully ; 
but,  when  beyond  their  pickets,  the  ten  rear 
wagons  were  ordered  to  be  driven  in  the 
woods  by  the  road,  and  then  the  horses  (for 
ty)  were  detached  from  them  and  carried 
back  to  Fauquier.  A  few  days  after  this,  with 
twenty-five  men,  he  captured,  below  Billy 
Goodwin's  tavern,  on  the  turnpike,  forty 


78  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

loaded  sutler-wagons.  The  contents  were  de 
stroyed  ;  but  the  horses  and  prisoners  were 
brought  off  safely.  Early  in  the  month  of 
May,  Mosby  performed  one  of  the  most  ex 
traordinary  deeds  of  his  whole  career.  Pass 
ing  through  Prince  William  County,  he  and 
his  men,  sixty  in  all,  were  feeding  their 
horses  in  the  barn-lot  of  a  farm  near  Dranes- 
ville,  with  saddles  off  and  the  gate  closed. 
The  Fifth  New  York  Cavalry,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  strong,  charged  on  them  with  sabres 
and  carbines.  Our  men  took  shelter  in  the 
barn  until  twenty-five  of  them  could  bridle 
and  saddle  their  horses ;  some,  including 
Mosby,  mounting  their  horses  bareback,  and 
opening  the  gate  under  a  heavy  fire,  charged 
the  enemy  with  pistols.  Our  men  closed  in 
on  them,  pouring  a  deadly  fire  into  their 
ranks  ;  indeed,  every  shot  seemed  to  tell. 
The  enemy  could  not  stand  such  a  fire  :  they 
broke,  and  fled  in  great  confusion.  We  cap 
tured  seventy  horses  and  twenty-five  prison 
ers,  besides  killing  and  wounding  about  the 
same  number.  Mosby  and  his  men  sustained 
neither  loss  nor  injury. 

In  the  month  of  May,  Mosby.  with  thirty- 
five  men  and  one  piece  of  artillery,  attacked 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  79 

a  train  of  cars  on  the  Orange  and  Alexandria 
Railroad,  at  Warrcnton  Junction.  The  guard 
to  the  train  was  driven  away  and  the  cars  de 
stroyed,  and  he  began  to  retire.  The  enemy 
being  reenforced  by  a  regiment  of  cavalry, 
pursued  him.  With  this  small  body  of  men 
he  fought  and  kept  at  bay,  for  over  one  hour, 
the  whole  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  then  did 
not  take  care  of  themselves  until  his  ammunition 
was  exhausted  and  artillery  captured,  and  in 
the  retreat  he  lost  only  three  men,  who  were 
captured.  A  few  days  after  this,  when  Mos- 
by  was  returning  from  scouting  in  the  lower 
part  of  Fairfax  County,  he  reached  the  Bull 
Run  Mountains,  and,  feeling  fatigued,  lay 
down  in  the  shade  of  one  of  the  large  chest 
nut-trees,  and  dropped  to  sleep.  While  in 
that  condition  two  Yankees  passing  by  rec 
ognized  him.  They  demanded  his  surrender. 
j 

Realizing  his' critical  situation,  and  knowing 
it  would  require  a  bold  and  sudden  movement 
on  his  part  to  extricate  himself,  and  never 
losing  his  presence  of  mind  or  expressing,  in 
the  least  degree,  excitement  under  the  trying 
circumstances,  he  suddenly  jumped  up,  and 
with  one  arm,  knocked  away  the  pistols 
pointed  at  his  breast,  while,  with  the  other 


80  MOSBY  AND  EIS  MEN. 

hand,  he  shot  one  of  his  would-be  capturers, 
and  the  other  ran  away. 

On  another  occasion  during  this  month, 
while  scouting  with  Ames,  he  was,  during 
Ames's  absence  for  a  few  moments,  attacked 
by  seven  Yankees.  Three  Yankees  were 
killed,  and  both  parties  having  exhausted  the 
loads  in  their  pistols,  Mosby's  adversaries 
drew  their  sabres  and  attacked  him.  He  was 
as  skilful  in  warding  off  their  thrusts  with 
the  pistol  as  an  experienced  swordsman,  al 
though  he  had  never  had  a  sabre  in  his  hand 
before  this  war ;  besides,  he  never  was  partial 
to  the  use  of  this  weapon,  relying  entirely  on 
the  pistol.  Ames,  hearing  the  firing,  came 
up  to  Mosby's  assistance  and  saved  his  life. 
Ames,  being  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  sabre, 
made  two  of  the  enemy  bite  the  dust  with  his 
sabre,  while  the  other  two  fled  for  their  lives  ; 
and  thus  was  Mosby's  life  spared  to  again 
carry  terror  into  the  armies  of  the  invaders 
of  his  native  soil.  Ames  himself,  in  a  few 
days,  was  placed  in  a  similar  situation.  He 
was  the  bravest  Yankee  any  of  us  had  ever 
seen.  Having  determined,  when  he  cast  his 
fortunes  with  us,  to  never  surrender  or  be 
taken  alive,  my  readers  can  form  some  idea 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  81 

of  the  desperation  with  which  he  fought 
when  he  encountered  five  of  the  enemy.  It 
happened  in  one  of  the  gorges  of  the  Bull 
Run  Mountains,  and  the  scenery  and  inci 
dents  would  furnish  a  splendid  theme  for  the 
dramatist  for  a  tragedy.  In  a  deep  ravine, 
with  a  large,  ugly  rock  projecting  almost  over 
the  pass,  surrounded  with  lofty  trees  £c., 
were  five  men  against  one.  engaged  in  deadly 
combat.  The  one  fisrhtin^  for  his  life  and  a 

o  o 

great,  noble  principle,  and  the  other  five 
fighting  for  a  tyrant,  plunder,  and  lucre. 
Ames  emptied  his  two  pistols  (twelve  loads,) 
killing  two  of  his  adversaries,  and  repulsing, 
or  rather  putting  to  flight  the  other  three. 
He  himself,  however,  was  severely  wounded 
in  the  right  arm,  which  rendered  him  unable 
to  do  duty  for  nearly  a  year. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


LEETS  MARCH  INTO  PENNSYLVANIA  —  THE  CONDUCT  OF  HIS  ARMY 
CONTRASTED  WITH  THAT  OF  THE  FEDERALS— BATTLE  OK  C1CT- 
TYSBURG— MOSBY  ACTIVE  —  EXTRACT  FROM  A  MONROE,  OHIO, 
PAPER. 


IN  Eichmond,  and  throughout  the  South, 
important  and  beneficial  results  were  ex 
pected  from  General  Lee's  invasion  of  the 
North.  His  army  was  as  large  as  it  ever 
was.  The  soldiers,  flushed  with  victory, 
were  in  splendid  spirits.  Great  and  nume 
rous  were  the  speculations  in  regard  to  re 
sults  of  the  invasion.  He  began  to  advance 
in  the  month  of  June,  and  met  with  no  oppo 
sition  until  the  Potomac  was  crossed.  In  fact 
the  enemy  were  ignorant  of  his  whereabouts 
until  the  appearance  of  his  troops  on  the 
Maryland  side  of  the  classic  Potomac.  His 
advance  guard  penetrated  the  North  as  far  as 
York,  Pennsylvania.  Great  excitement  pre 
vailed  in  Philadelphia,  and  serious  apprehen- 

(82) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  83 

sion  was  felt  that  he  would  attack  that  city. 
In  Lee's  line  of  march  the  utmost  respect  was 
paid  to  private  property.  No  private  houses 
were  searched  for  arms  ;  no  ladies  insulted 
or  robbed ;  no  ladies'  wardrobes  broken  open, 
and  robbed  of  their  clothing  and  jewelry. 

How  different  were  the  marches  of  Gen 
erals  Lee  and  Stuart,  through  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland,  from  that  of  General  Sheri 
dan's  cavalry  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
when  ladies  were  insulted  and  robbed  of 
their  jewelry,  rings  taken  from  their  fingers 
by  force,  their  entire  wardrobes  and  bed- 
clothing  taken  and  sent  to  families  in  the 
Northern  States  !  Hen  and  turkey  roosts  were 
robbed ;  meat-houses  broken  open  and  meat 
taken,  leaving  not  a  single  piece  for  the  al 
ready  ruined  people ;  hogs  shot  down  in  the 
fields ;  sheep  and  cows  driven  off;  and  houses 
searched,  for  arms,  they  said,  but  in  reality 
for  nothing  else  than  for  money,  jewelry, 
and  fine  clothing.  Even  the  poor  negro,  for 
whom  they  expressed  so  much  sympathy,  and 
for  whom  they  were  fighting,  had  his  little 
cabin  searched  and  robbed  of  what  little 
money  he  had  laid  aside  for  a  "  wet  day." 


84  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Milk-houses  were  broken  open  and  robbed  of 
their  contents,  and  barns  and  stables  burned. 

As  an  instance,  when  Ouster's  cavalry  were 
applying  the  torch  to  every  barn  and  stable, 
every  rick  of  hay,  wheat,  and  straw  in  Lou- 
don  County,  Virginia,  a  party  of  them,  led  by 
a  major  (I  regret  his  name  is  not  known), 
rode  up  to  a  house  occupied  by  a  widow  lady 
and  daughter,  and  asked  for  some  refresh 
ments.  There  was  nothing  on  the  place  but 
a  very  fine  spring.  After  water  from  that 
had  been  furnished,  the  major  ordered  his 
men  to  apply  the  torch  to  the  barn  and  gran 
ary.  The  daughter,  a  beautiful  girl  of  six 
teen  summers,  came  out,  and  pleaded  with 
the  commanding  officer  (this  major)  to  spare 
them,  declaring  no  soldiers  had  ever  boarded 
at  her  mother's  house.  He  finally  consented 
to  spare  them  at  the  sacrifice  of  her  virtue. 
The  daughter  returned  to  the  house  weeping, 
and  this  soldier  had  all  the  out-houses  burned. 
If  this  single  act  is  not  sufficient  to  damn  the 
Yankee  cavalry  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  it  is 
difficult  to  say  what  is  so. 

Where  is  that  proud  spirit  of  the  North, 
with  all  its  boasted  philanthropy ;  those  who 
profess  a  sort  of  Puritanical,  par-excellent 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  85 

infallibility ;  the  vicegerents  of  high  Heaven 
to  teach  morality  ?  Do  they  endorse  a  whole 
sale  war  upon  defenceless  women  and  chil 
dren  by  such  vandals  ?  Alas !  the  human 
soul  shudders  at  the  conviction  that  these 
men,  by  such  acts  of  oppression,  were  repre 
senting  a  faction  who  controlled  the  ship  of 
state  at  Washington,  and  expressly  obeyed 
the  outside  pressure,  while  those  in  authority 
secretly  gloated  over  such  outrages.  They 
all  loved  the  Union,  per  se,  just  as  much  as 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  did.  He  was  one 
of  their  leaders,  and  enunciated,  as  a  sort  of 
truism,  that  "  THIS  UNION  is  A  LIE  !  THE 
AMERICAN  UNION  is  AN  IMPOSTURE,  A  COV 
ENANT  WITH  DEATH,  AND  AN  AGREEMENT  WITH 
HELL  !  *  *  *  I  AM  FOR  ITS  OVERTHROW  ! 
*  *  *  Up  with  the  flag  of  DISUNION,  that 
we  may  have  a  free  and  glorious  Republic  of 
our  own ;  and  when  the  hour  shall  come,  the 
hour  will  have  arrived  that  shall  witness  the 
overthrow  of  slavery." 

In  this  connection  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  refer  to  the  numerous  arbitrary  arrests  of 
non-combatants,  by  lettres  de  cachet,  in  other 
portions  of  the  country,  as  early  as  1862,  in 
verification  of  our  position,  that  the  dominant 


86  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

party  in   the  North  really   detest  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  self-government. 

We  take  the*  following  from  the  Congres 
sional  Globe.  It  relates  to  proceedings  in  the 
United  States  Senate  :  — 


"MR.  POWELL.  —  I  will  take  this  occasion  to  say 
what  I  was  about  to  say  a  moment  ago,  when  I  was 
held  not  to  be  in  order.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter 
again  into  a  debate  on  this  subject ;  but  it  has  been 
intimated  that  the  remarks  I  made  in  regard  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  were  rather  harsh.  1  admit  that 
they  were  a  little  harsh,  sir,  but  I  verily  believe  they 
were  true.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  letter  written  to  nle 
by  a  very  distinguished  gentleman  of  Kentucky,  in 
which  he  recites  an  interview  that  took  place  with 
the  Secretary  of  State  concerning  one  of  the  prisoners 
from  Kentuck}',  as  given  to  him  by  Colonel  Throop,  a 
gentleman  of  very  high  standing,  and  I  beg  to  read  to 
the  Senate  an  abstract  from  that  letter  :  — 

"  '  While  Colonel  Stanton,  of  this  city,  was  still  a 
prisoner  at  Fort  Lafayette,  his  brother-in-law,  Colonel 
Throop,  employed  (through  my  agency)  Mr.  Charles 
F.  Mitchell,  of  Flemingsburg,  formerly  a  member  of 
Congress  from  New  York,  and,  as  I  knew,  an  intimate 
friend  and  correspondent  of  Seward's,  to  accompany 
him  (Throop)  to  Washington,  to  promote  Colonel 
Stanton's  release.  They  were  joined  at  Washington 
by  Frederick  Stanton,  a  brother  of  Colonel  Stanton. 
The  three  called  on  Mr.  Seward,  Throop  and  Stanton 
being  introduced  by  Mitchell.  They  opened  their 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  87 

mission  by  remarking  that  they  had  called  to  see  him 
in  reference  to  the  Maysville  prisoners.  He  abruptly 
replied  that  those  prisoners  would  not  be  released. 
Frederick  asked,  "  What  are  the  charges  against  my 
brother?"  Mr.  Seward  replied,  "There  are  no 
charges  against  him  on  file  ;  "  and  added  that  the 
business  of  his  office  pressed  him  too  much  to  enter 
tain  inquiries  or  give  explanations.  One  inquired  if 
it  was  his  purpose  to  keep  citizens  imprisoned,  against 
whom  no  charges  were  made.  He  answered,  harshly, 
"I  do  not  care  a  d — n  whether  they  are  guilty  or 
innocent.  I  saved  Maryland  by  similar  arrests,  and 
so  I  mean  to  hold  Kentucky."  To  this  it  was  re 
marked  that  the  Legislature  and  public  sentiment  of 
Kentucky  were  averse  to  such  arrests.  "  I  do  not 
care  a  d — n  for  the  opinion  of  Kentucky,"  ho  insult 
ingly  responded  ;  adding  that  what  he  required  was 
to  hold  her  in  the  Union  and  make  her  fight  for  it ; 
and  then  turning  fiercely  on  Mitchell,  demanded  of 
him,  "  Why  the  hell  are  you  not  at  home  fighting 
traitors  instead  of  seeking  their  release  here  ?  "  This 
is  the  substance  of  the  interview  as  related  to  me  by 
Colonel  Throop.' 

"  I  will  say  to  the  Senate  that  Mr.  Frederick  Stan- 
ton  told  me,  a  few  days  after  it  occurred,  this  very 
conversation,  I  will  not  say  in  these  exact  words,  but 
in  substance  ;  and  I  know  Colonel  Throop  to  be  as 
honorable  a  gentleman  as  lives  in  Kentucky  or  any 
other  State." 

But  I  am  digressing.  We  left  General  Lee 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Potomac  River,  ad- 


88  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

vancing  into  Pennsylvania,  —  the  last  intelli 
gence  the  authorities  in  llichmond  had 
received  of  his  whereabouts.  Ewell  was  in 
Yorjjf,  Pa.  His  extensive  line  of  communi 
cation  being  interrupted,  nothing  concerning 
his  movements  could  be  heard,  except  through 
Northern  papers,  and  they  not  reliable. 
There  was  no  uneasiness,  however,  amongst 
the  people.  They  knew  there  was  at  the 
head  of  that  army  the  greatest  military  chief 
tain  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  confi 
dence  of  the  Southern  people  in  him  was  the 
same  as  that  which  their  forefathers  reposed 
in  the  father  of  his  country  in  the  first  revo 
lution.  The  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  fought, 
and  the  enemy  whipped,  as  the  people  of  the 
North  know.  If  they  were  not,  why  did 
they  begin  to  retreat  nine  hours  before  Gen 
eral  Lee "?  After  long  marching  in  the  heat 
of  summer,  and  the  men  exhausted  fighting 
for  several  days,  with  nearly  three  hundred 
miles  of  communication  to  be  kept  open,  out 
of  ammunition,  could  a  skilful  General  like 
Lee  commence  a  pursuit  of  these  who  were 
supplied  with  abundance  of  ammunition, 
particularly  when  the  odds  were  so  great 
against  him,  and  the  enemy  receiving  reen- 

8* 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  89 

forcemcnts  every  hour  by  their  railways  ? 
General  Lee  had  (it  is  estimated)  about 
ninety  thousand  men  in  the  series  of  en 
gagements,  while  the  enemy,  independent  of 
the  army  proper,  which  was  estimated  at  two 
hundred  and  fifty  or  three  hundred  thousand, 
had  the  militia  of  Pennsylvania,  Man-land, 
New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  other  States  of 
the  North.  General  Lee  fell  back  to  Hagers- 
town  near  his  supplies,  and  waited  there  with 
his  men  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  for  three 
days,  courting  an  attack  from  his  adversary, 
General  Meade. 

Lee  in  the  meanwhile  was  not  idle.  Forti 
fying  himself  at  this  place,,  he  began  to 
recross  the  Potomac,  sending  his  trains  first. 
If  General  Lee  was  whipped  as  badly  as  the 
Baltimore  American  said  he  was,  "  his  army 
scattered  to  the  four  winds  of  the  heavens 
and  forty  thousand  of  them  prisoners,"  why 
did  not  General  Meade  attack  him  at  Hagers- 
town,  Maryland  ]  Meade  knew  with  whom 
he  was  dealing,  and,  like  an  able  general, 
declined  making  such  a  dangerous  and  rash 
movement,  notwithstanding  the  importunities 
of  Stanton.  The  crossing  was  effected  by 
Lee  without  opposition,  and  he  moved  thence 
toward  his  old  position  on  the  Rapidan. 


90  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

The  extravagant  and  studied  falsehoods  of 
the  Northern  press  eventually  induced  the 
rulers  to  believe  that  Lee's  army  was  very 
much  crippled.  The  enemy  threw  a  corps 
forward  to  annihilate  Longstreet.  The  forces 
met  between  Linden  and  Chester  Gaps,  in  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains.  Longstreet  was  pre 
pared  to  meet  the  attack.  Their  attempt  to 
dislodge  him  only  served  to  teach  the  invaders 
that  the  Hills  were  too  steep,  Streets  too 
long,  and  Stonewalls  impregnable.  The 
dashing  Stewart,  with  his  invincible  cavaliers, 
found  work  for  his  arm  of  the  service  on  the 
road  from  Leesburg  to  Paris.  In  these 
engagements  and  skirmishes  the  enemy's  loss 
in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  was  ac 
knowledged  to  be  twelve  hundred. 

In  this  memorable  campaign  Mosby  and 
his  partisans  were  by  no  means  idle.  General 
Lee  relied  upon  this  branch  of  his  army  for 
much  valuable  information  as  to  the  disposi 
tion  and  movements  of  the  enemy's  forces. 
His  dashes  into  their  lines  will  doubtless  be 
remembered. 

Lee's  orders  for  the  preservation  of  private 
property,  and  the  protection  of  professed  non- 
combatants  was  the  subject  of  some  censure. 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  91 

He  had  passed  over  the  rich  valleys  of  his 
native  State,  —  on  every  hand  were  the  marks 
of  desolation  inflicted  by  a  relentless  foe,  — 
and  marched  with  a  half-naked,  shoeless,  and 
starving  army,  into  the  enemy's  territory 
teeming  with  wealth ;  and  notwithstanding 
the  terrible  examples  set  before  him,  upon 
his  arrival  in  the  enemy's  country,  no  supplies 
were  appropriated  without  an  adequate  return 
of  the  quid  pro  quo. 

In  reference  to  Mosby,  who  had  been  de 
nounced  by  the  Yankee  scribblers  with  such 
select,  choice,  and  classic  appellations  as 
"  Land  Pirate,"  "  Horse  Thief,"  "  Murderer," 
"  Guerilla,"  &c.,  he  strictly  refrained  from 
executing  the  lex  talionis.  His  loss  during 
the  campaign  was  one  man  severely  wounded 
(Alfred  Glasscock).  To  mark  the  contrast  be 
tween  our  mode  of  conducting  the  war  and 
that  of  our  enemies,  we  will  here  give  some 
extracts  from  a  letter  of  a  private  soldier  in 
the  Thirty-sixth  Ohio  Regiment,  U.  S.,  pub 
lished  in  the  Monroe,  Ohio,  Spirit  of  the  De 
mocracy  :  — 

"  On  the  evening1  of  the  llth,  five  companies  of  the 
regiment  started  on  a  scout.  I  set  fire  myself  to 


92  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

several  barns,  haystacks,  straw-ricks,  &c.  It  was 
pitiful  to  hear  the  pleadings  of  the  wives  of  '  secesh ' 
soldiers,  not  to  destroy  their  property.  We  shot  all 
the  sheep,  pigs,  and  calves  that  we  could  not  carry 
off.  In  one  or  two  places  we  came  across  some  bee 
hives,  and  then  the  men  would  pitch  in  and  surfeit 
themselves  on  the  sweet  contents.  The  captain,  at 
one  place,  sent  me  down  to  a  house  with  three  men, 
with  orders  to  search  the  house,  fire  the  out-houses, 
and  bring  off  all  the  cattle  that  were  fat  enough  to 
kill.  I  got  the  woman  to  talking  with  one  of  the  men, 
and,  seizing  a  brand  from  the  fireplace,  set  a  barn 
full  of  wheat  afire.  I  took  off  two  horses,  but  left  her 
three  lean  cows.  There  was  a  hive  full  of  beautiful 
white  honey,  which  the  men  opened,  though  they  were 
already  surfeited.  If  she  had  not  been  a  widow,  it 
would  have  been  my  duty  to  shoot  the  cows,  calves 
and  sheep,  and  leave  them  to  rot  upon  the  ground,  if 
I  could  not  drive  them  off. 

"  At  the  place  where  we  stayed  over  night,  there 
were  two  barns  full  of  hay  and  grain,  two  haystacks, 
two  straw-ricks,  and  a  large  shed  burning  at  once.  A 
grand  spectacle  !  But  it  made  me  feel  sort  of  sneak 
ing  to  destroy  property  in  that  way,  when  there  was 
none  to  defend  it.  At  two  or  three  places  where  we 
burned  property  the  women  thought  that  I  was  an 
officer,  and  came  to  me  and  plead  for  an  only  cow  or 
an  old  family  horse,  and  when  I  referred  them  to  the 
captain,  upon  whom  they  had  already  exhausted  their 
entreaties,  they  begged  me  to  use  my  influence  to 
have  them  left.  One  kind-looking  woman,  whose  barn 
had  been  set  on  fire,  came  to  me  while  I  had  stopped 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  93 

a  moment  to  fix  my  accoutrements,  after  the  rest  of 
the  company  had  gone  after  her  cattle,  and  offered  to 
do  anything-  in  the  world  for  me  if  I  would  only  use 
my  influence  to  have  her  cattle  left.  But  I  had  to 
hurry  off,  thinking,  as  I  did  so,  what  I  would  do  to 
an  enemy  that  would  treat  my  mother  and  sisters  in 
that  way.  Would  that  the  vengeance  could  descend 
upon  the  heads  of  those  men  who  left  their  families  to 
the  mercy  of  an  invader  1  " 

Alfred  Glasscock,  one  of  Mosby's  most  val 
uable  men,  was  seriously  wounded. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


FEELING  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  PEOPLE  —  RECUUITING  —  THE  WRITER 
JOINS  MOSBY  — ADVENTURES  ON  THE  WAY  — MOSBY'S  APPEAR 
ANCE. 


L  LEE'S  return  to  his  old  posi- 
tion,  somewhat  disappointed  the  people 
in  the  South ;  but  when  they  reflected  what 
long  marches  his  men  had  made,  what  a  long 
line  of  communication  he  had  to  keep  open, 
how  the  enemy  were  whipped  and  slaugh 
tered  at  Gettysburg,  how  he  regained  and 
reoccupied  his  old  position,  and  stood  as 
proud  and  defiant  as  ever,  they  became  satis 
fied.  Appeals  were  made  to  the  people  to 
come  forward  and  volunteer.  The  Conscript 
Act  was  enforced  with  more  vigor  than 
ever.  Young  men,  with  sinecure  positions 
in  the  departments,  resigned  and  entered  the 
army.  Every  able-bodied  and  patriotic  young 
man  manifested  a  desire  to  have  his  name 

(94) 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  95 

associated  in  some  way  with  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia.  Mosby's  name  by  his 
heroic  deeds  had  become  a  household  word 
by  this  time,  and  all  the  daring  young  spirits 
were  eager  to  join  him.  Of  the  regular 
service  they  had  a  holy  horror.  They  ima 
gined  if  they  could  only  get  with  Oilman, 
Imboden,  White,  or  Mosby,  they  would  have 
an  opportunity  for  active  service,  could  win 
laurels  more  lasting,  and,  if  they  fell,  they 
would  have  a  resting-place  in  fame's  eternal 
camping-ground.  But  the  Government  at 
Richmond  strictly  prohibited  all  persons 
liable  to  military  duty  from  passing  through 
the  Confederate  lines.  Many  lily-livered 
gentry,  however,  to  escape  service,  flanked 
our  pickets  in  the  night-time,  went  to  the 
enemy,  took  the  oath,  and  remained  North 
during  the  war.  The  cost  of  living  by  this 
time  was  exorbitant  in  Richmond,  and  the 
salaries  of  the  clerks  in  the  Departments 
were  utterly  inadequate  to  support  them. 
Having  read  with  rapture  of  Mosby's  exploits 
and  deeds  of  daring,  I  resolved  to  resign  my 
position  in  the  Bank  of  the  Confederate 
States,  and  cast  my  fortunes  with  him  for 
weal  or  woe.  My  country  and  native  State 


96  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

needed  men  in  the  field,  and  I  felt  it  a  duty 
to  respond  to  her  call,  to  the  extent  of  my 
ability. 

The  restrictions  I  have  just  spoken  of  did 
not  attach  to  me.  By  reason  of  the  date  of 
appointment  to  office,  I  was  at  liberty  to 
attach  myself  to  any  command.  Mosby  had 
returned  from  Pennsylvania,  and  established 
his  headquarters  in  Fauquier  County ;  and,  for 
the  distinguished  service  he  had  rendered 
while  there,  had  been  promoted  to  a  majority 
with  authority  to  raise  a  battalion.  Accord 
ingly,  Lieutenant  Thomas  Turner,  of  Prince 
George  County,  Maryland,  and  Grafton  Car 
lisle,  of  Baltimore  City,  were  sent  to  Rich 
mond  to  get  twenty  recruits.  They  took 
rooms  at  the  Spottswood  Hotel,  and  opened 
their  recruiting  office.  The  first  day,  before 
noon,  they  had  over  one  hundred  applica 
tions.  This  number  was  more  than  they 
wanted.  I  was  one  of  the  lucky  ones,  and 
resigned  my  office  that  day. 

Next  morning,  being  the  holy  Sabbath,  I 
sallied  forth  to  join  Mosby,  accompanied  by 
several  friends  on  a  similar  mission.  Our 
route  was  via  Virginia  Central  Railroad, 
hence  to  Culpepper,  which  place  we  reached 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  97 

at  noon.  Culpepper  was  one  of  the  most 
delightful  towns  in  the  State  of  Virginia 
before  the  war.  Some  of  the  noblest  speci 
mens  of  the  human  race  hail  from  this  ancient 
town.  It  was  then  occupied  by  our  cavalry, 
and  General  Stuart  had  his  headquarters  at 
Brandy  Station,  some  seven  miles  distant. 
We  remained  here  until  Turner  could  go  to 
headquarters,  and  get  passes  to  carry  us 
through  our  lines.  About  three  o'clock  he 
returned  with  passes.  The  remainder  of  the 
Sabbath  was  spent  in  travelling  to  "  Old 
Church,"  at  which  point  our  party  of  ama 
teurs  initiated  themselves  into  soldiers'  life,  by 
reclining  upon  mother  earth,  and  courting 
"  tired  nature's  sweet  restorer,  balmy  sleep," 
under  the  soothing  rays  of  the  silver  moon. 
Next  morning,  after  arranging  our  toilet,  an 
aching  void  convinced  us  that  we  had  been 
fasting  twenty-four  hours.  Our  march,  how 
ever,  was  resumed,  while  hunger  with  its 
thousand  suggestions,  forced  one  of  the  boys 
to  descry  a  fair  specimen  of  the  swine,  which 
was  surrounded ;  the  butcher  and  cook  per 
formed  their  service  with  dispatch,  and  we 
were  served  with  roast  pork,  smoked  pork, 

9 


98  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

broiled  pork,  tenderloin,  chine  and  spare-ribs, 
minus  pepper,  salt,  or  bread. 

At  the  residence  of  Mr.  Eice  we  were 
refreshed  with  a  cup  of  cool,  fresh  butter 
milk.  Passing  hence  we  reached  Woodson 
about  noon,  and  bivouacked  near  Washing 
ton,  Rappahannock  County,  the  second  night. 
Tuesday  our  aquatic  natures  were  thoroughly 
tested  by  fording,  wading,  and  swimming  the 
Rappahannock  River  some  six  times,  which 
contributed  to  produce  our  quiet  rest  on  terra 
firma,  near  the  house  of  John  D.  Butts,  Esq. 
Being  in  our  novitiate,  we  were  by  this  time 
impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  life  of 
a  scout  was  a  dreadful  reality.  Wednesday 
morning  we  were  furnished  ex  gratia  with  a 
"  square  meal,"  so  called  in  military  parlance, 
and  reached  the  place  of  rendezvous  at  Mark- 
ham's,  and  were  allowed  to  slumber  upon  the 
easy  side  of  an  oak  board  in  the  depot.  A 
relative  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall  furnished 
food  for  twelve  of  our  adventurers,  and  others 
ordered  breakfast  with  different  families  in 
the  vicinity,  with  as  much  coolness  as  though 
they  were  ipso  facto  patriots  so-called.  We 
were  advised  that  Mosby  was  making  a  fash 
ionable  call  at  Scufflebarg,  on  professional 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  99 

business.  During  the  day  we  were  presented 
to  the  illustrious  little  chieftain ;  and  our  first 
impulse  on  meeting  him  was,  that  — 

"  Ours  were  no  hireling's  trained  to  fight, 
With  cymbal  and  clarion  glittering  and  bright ; 
No  prancing  of  chargers,  no  martial  display 
No  war-trump  is  heard  from  our  silent  array.'7 

Mosby  was  plainly  yet  neatly  clad  in  Ken 
tucky  jeans,  and  sat  quietly  picking  his  den 
tal  plugs  with  a  jack-knife.  His  carriage  is 
active,  easy,  and  graceful ;  his  affable,  genial 
manners  are  calculated  to  win  favorable 
impressions.  In  speech,  he  is  somewhat 
taciturn ;  but  his  words  roll  forth  with  a 
gentle  fluency  and  decision,  and  reach  the 
ear  in  mellow  cadence.  He  is  about  five 
feet  high,  features  indicate  weight  of  charac 
ter  and  firmness,  an  honest  face,  sharp,  blue 
eyes,  aquiline  nose,  light  hair,  and  prominent 
forehead.  In  a  word,  Mosby  possesses  in 
nate,  refined,  and  exalted  sensibilities,  and  is, 
by  cultivation  and  education,  an  elegant,  pol 
ished  gentleman. 

August,  1863,  Mosby  with  thirty  men  went 
on  a  raid  to  Fairfax  County.  When  he  got 
near  Billy  Goodwin's  tavern,  on  the  turnpike 


100  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

below  the  Court  House,  he  met  thirty  cavalry 
leading  one  hundred  horses  up  to  the  army. 
He  divided  his  men  to  attack  them  in  rear 
and  front, — Lieutenant  Thomas  Turner,  in 
command  of  fifteen,  to  make  the  attack  on 
the  rear,  and  Mosby  with  fifteen,  attacked 
in  front.  The  enemy,  seeing  themselves 
attacked  in  that  way,  broke  and  took  shelter 
in  Goodwin's  Tavern,  and  fired  on  us  from 
the  windows.  They,  however,  after  exhaust 
ing  their  ammunition,  surrendered.  In  the 
engagement  the  gallant  Mosby  was  wounded 
in  the  groin,  and  calf  of  the  leg.  Joe  Cal- 
vert  was  wounded  in  the  ankle,  and  Norman 
Smith  killed.  In  this  gallant  young  man, 
Mosby  lost  one  of  his  most  efficient  men. 
He  had  rendered  distinguished  service  under 
General  Ewell,  and  was  as  brave  a  soldier  as 
ever  drew  a  sabre,  and  a  splendid  scout.  He 
was  a  native  of  Fauquier  County,  son  of  Black- 
well  Smith  (who  was  a  lineal  descendant  of 
John  Smith),  and  lived  near  Warrenton.  The 
enemy  lost  heavily  in  this  affair.  Seventy 
horses  were  brought  off  safe  to  Upperville, 
where  the  recruits  were  mounted,  and  the 
rest  distributed  among  the  captors.  Mosby's 
wounds  being  of  a  serious  character,  and  there 


MOSB?  AND  'HIS  MfiN.  101 

being-  great  difficulty  in  getting  those  little 
delicacies  so  necessary  for  the  wounded,  the 
Surgeon  of  the  command,  Doctor  Dunn, 
advised  his  removal  inside  our  lines.  The 
day  after,  he  was  started  in  an  ambulance  to 
Amhcrst  County,  the  home  of  his  parents ; 
the  command  accompanying  him  as  a  body 
guard  as  far  as  Little  Washington,  in  Rap- 
pahannock  County.  During  the  Major's 
absence  little  was  done.  Lieutenants  Smith 
and  Turner  directed  the  new  beginners  to 
secure  permanent  boarding  -  houses.  W.  B. 
Walston,  John  W.  Corbin,  John  Dickson, 
Sewall  Williams,  and  myself  secured  board  at 
Mr.  George  Short's,  and  the  rest  around  Paris 
and  Upperville. 

The  enemy  being  so  near  us,  we  were  al 
ways  on  the  qul  vive,  and  private  scouting  ex 
peditions  were  exceedingly  popular.  Those 
not  mounted  would  take  shot-guns,  and  go  in 
parties  of  from  five  to  ten,  to  Barber's  Cross 
Roads,  and  capture  the  enemy's  pickets. 
Lieutenant  William  R.  Smith,  of  the  famous 
Black  Horse  Cavalry,  but  on  detached  service 
with  Major  Mosby  on  his  special  requisition, 
to  whom  Mosby  assigned  his  men  when  he  left, 
ordered  twenty-five  men  to  meet  him  at  Rec- 

9* 


102  MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN. 

tor's  Cross  Roads.  Lieutenant  Thomas  Tur 
ner  accompanied  him.  The  party  proceeded 
to  Waterloo  in  the  night,  and  attacked  the 
picket  at  that  place,  at  three  o'clock  A.  M. 
The  picket  was  composed  of  "  Black  Dutch," 
and  easily  broken  without  loss  or  injury. 
Twenty-five  horses  were  brought  off,  with  six 
prisoners.  The  enemy  had  five  or  six  killed. 
Their  new  clothing,  having  been  drawn  the 
day  before  the  attack,  of  course  fell  into  our 
hands. 

A  few  days  after  this  affair,  Lieutenant 
William  R.  Smith,  in  conjunction  with  Lieu 
tenant  Turner,  took  thirty  men  to  Fayetteville, 
Fauquier  County,  a  little  village  near  Warren- 
ton,  to  capture  a  large  sutler  -  store.  The 
Yankee  army  was  on  the  move ;  and  Smith, 
with  two  men,  entered  Warrenton  in  the 
night,  with  the  view  of  finding  out  the  object 
of  the  move.  Finding  it  to  be  nothing  but  a 
feint,  he  rode  up  to  the  column  of  Yankee 
cavalry  just  passing  out  of  the  city,  and  held 
a  little  tete-a-tete  for  a  few  moments,  and  re 
tired.  He  then  returned  to  his  men,  whom 
he  had  concealed  in  the  woods,  and  proceeded 
with  them  to  Fayetteville  to  capture  the  sut 
ler-store.  On  reaching  the  store  Smith  found 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  103 

the  proprietor  ready  to  follow  the  army  next 
morning.  The  old  Jew  had  in  readiness, 
specially  for  us,  four  large  four-horse  wagons 
to  receive  his  goods.  The  Provost  Marshal 
of  the  army  had  generously  given  him  a  guard 
of  eight  infantry,  but  they,  like  all  regulars, 
thinking  they  had  a  soft  thing  were  inside  the 
house  playing  cards  and  drinking  the  old  sut 
ler's  champagne.  The  night  was  very  dark. 
Smith  and  John  Pun-year  rode  up  to  the  door, 
and  knocked.  One  of  the  guard  thought 
lessly  opened  the  door,  when  he  was  politely 
requested  to  surrender  and  keep  quiet.  In  a 
moment  the  old  Jew  was  at  the  door  sporting 
his  fine  watch  and  chain,  with  several  dia 
mond  rings  on  his  fingers.  In  the  meanwhile 

~  o 

the  rest  of  Smith's  men  came,  and  soon  re 
lieved  him  of  his  surplus  jewelry  and  green 
backs,  and  secured  the  rest  of  the  safeguard. 
Then  commenced  a  general  ransacking  for 
clothing  and  other  necessaries  of  life.  I  will 
leave  my  readers  to  conclude  what  thirty  sol 
diers  would  do  turned  loose  into  four  large 
rooms,  filled  up  to  tho  very  ceiling  with  every 
conceivable  thing.  The  men  brought  their 
sacks  into  requisition,  and  filled  them.  One 
of  them,  John ,  of  Maryland,  found  a  tin 


104  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

box  containing  $1,500  in  greenbacks.  Six 
teen  fine  horses  and  three  prisoners  were 
taken  off,  the  safeguard  being  set  at  liberty 
when  we  left.  It  was  a  rule  with  Mosby,  his 
officers  and  men,  never  to  disturb  or  detain 
these  safeguards  longer  than  he  occupied  the 
property  on  which  they  were  stationed,  which 
fact  becoming  known,  duty  of  that  nature  was 
eagerly  sought  for  by  the  Federal  soldiers.  I 
will  hereafter  speak  of  some  of  the  service 
these  safeguards  rendered  Mosby  and  his  of 
ficers  while  their  army  was  encamped  around 
Warrenton. 


CHAPTER  X. 


MOSBY  GAINS  IMPORTANT  INTELLIGENCE  FOR  GENERAL  LEE— AP 
PEARANCE  OF  THE  BATTLE-FIELD  AT  MANASSA9  — CHARGE  UPON 
A  PARTY  OF  THE  ENEMY  —  CONDUCT  OF  A  NEW  RECRUIT  — CAP 
TURE  OF  WAGONS,  ETC.  — A  VERY  SOFT  THING  IS  FOUND  TO  BE 
TOO  HARD. 


rilHE  weather  being  so  intensely  warm, 
-i-  nothing  was  done  for  a  week,  when  an 
order  was  issued  for  a  meeting  at  Rector's 
Cross  Roads,  a  small  village  where  the  War- 
renton  and  Snickers  Gap  Road  crosses  the 
turnpike  from  Alexandria  to  Winchester. 
Only  fifteen  or  twenty  men  reported.  At  two 
o'clock,  no  scout  reporting,  we  were  dis 
banded.  Owing  to  Major  Mosby's  temperate 
habits,  his  wounds,  though  painful,  healed 
rapidly,  and  he  was  in  his  saddle  again  in 
three  weeks.  On  resuming  command  of  his 
battalion,  he  received  a  hearty  welcome  from 
his  men.  A  meeting  was  ordered  to  take 
place  at  Rector's  Cross  Roads.  Thirty-five 
men  reported.  Mosby  took  command,  and  at 

(105) 


106  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

noon  we  moved  off  with  the  view  of  tapping 
the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad  at  Beal- 
ton  Station.  It  would  be  impossible  to  tell 
here  the  route  we  took  to  reach  it,  as  on  our 
raids  Mosby  always  avoided  the  highways, 
and  confined  his  marches  to  by-paths  and 
through  woods  and  fields.  We  marched  that 
day  and  night  to  within  two  miles  of  Bealton, 
and  went  into  camp  in  the  woods  until  day, 
when  Mosby,  W.  R.  Smith,  and  John  Ed 
monds  went  out  to  reconnoitre.  In  a  few 
minutes  they  returned,  with  the  intelligence 
that  the  enemy  were  too  strong  for  us  to  do 
anything.  They  numbered  fifteen  hundred 
infantry  and  five  hundred  cavalry.  Mosby, 
however,  was  amply  repaid  for  his  trouble  by 
the  information  he  acquired.  He  saw  the 
enemy  receiving  a  large  number  of  pontoons 
to  be  used  in  the  movement  General  Meade 
made  the  ensuing  November,  when  General 
Lee  handled  him  so  roughly  on  the  Rappa- 
hannock.  Mosby  sent  Horace  Johnson  to 
General  Lee's  headquarters  with  dispatches 
informing  him  of  the  designs  of  the  enemy  ; 
and,  finding  the  enemy  too  strong  for  him 
with  his  small  squad  of  men,  he  changed  his 
course  for  Fairfax  County.  On  the  march 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  107 

we  passed  through  Grinnage  to  Buckland, 
where  Mosby  detailed  twenty  men  to  go  with 
him.  The  rest  of  the  men  he  sent  back  to 
Fanquier  Connty.  The  detail  consisted  for 
the  most  part  of  new  recruits. 

After  enjoying  the  hospitalities  of  the  cit 
izens  of  Buckland  for  half  an  hour,  we 
received  the  order  to  mount  our  horses,  and 
in  a  few  moments  we  were  moving  down  the 
turnpike  in  the  direction  of  Mauassas.  Pass 
ing  through  Gainesville,  we  heard  of  the 
enemy's  being  out  on  a  plundering  expedition. 
Our  march  was  over  the  second,  and  part  of 
the  first,  battle-field  of  Manassas.  On  either 
side  of  the  turnpike  were  the  graves  of  the 
dead  who  fell  in  this  sanguinary  battle  ;  some 
of  the  bones  were  exposed  to  the  rays  of 
the  burning  sun,  —  tops  of  trees  shot  off, 
—  entire  absence  of  fences, —  houses  rid 
dled  with  bullets,  and  nothing  left  of  "  the 
old  stone  house'1  but  the  bare  walls.  Our 
survey  of  the  field  was  abruptly  terminated 
by  one  of  the  party,  exclaiming,  "  Yonder  they 
are,  Major"  A  halt  of  course  ensued ;  and 
Mosby,  riding  up  on  a  little  hill  about  a  hun 
dred  yards  ahead,  saw  in  the  distance  a  party 
of  about  thirty-five  of  the  enemy  returning  tq 


108  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

their  camp  at  Centreville  by  the  Thornton 
Road,  leading  ten  or  fifteen  horses  which  they 
had  taken  from  the  citizens.  This  Thornton 
Road  intersects  the  turnpike  about  three  miles 
from  Centreville  and  just  below  the  old  stone 
house  near  "  Sudley."  We  concealed  our 
selves  under  a  small  hill  while  the  Major 
watched  the  enemy.  When  they  had  ap 
proached  within  five  hundred  yards  of  us  he 
rode  back,  put  himself  at  our  head,  and  said 
to  his  men,  "  Boys,  I  want  you  to  go  right 
through  them.""  The  charge  was  commenced 
with  one  of  those  yells  peculiar  to  us,  and 
which  I  will  leave  for  some  of  our  Northern 
friends  to  conjecture  and  describe.  As  soon 
as  we  were  seen,  the  enemy,  thinking  we 
were  charging  with  sabres  (our  pistols  shone 
so  bright),  began  to  unstrap  the  Enfield  rifles 
from  their  saddles,  with  the  intention  of  get 
ting, behind  the  "worm  "fence  hard  by  ;  but, 
on  the  first  fire  from  our  men,  they  changed 
their  minds  and  fled  precipitately,  their  quar 
termaster  taking  the  lead.  To  reach  the 
enemy  we  were  compelled  to  charge  across  a 
deep  ravine,  in  crossing  which  several  of  our 
horses  fell  and  slightly  injured  the  riders. 
This  delayed  for  a  few  moments  our  reaching 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  109 

the  enemy,  and  afforded  them  an  opportunity 
to  escape  ;  not,  however,  before  nine  of  them 
were  captured,  with  twelve  horses.  Crossing 
this  ravine,  too,  had  the  effect  of  scattering 
our  men;  and  some  of  them,  in  their  eagerness 
to  get  horses,  became  separated  entirely  from 
the  command. 

It  was  in  this  affair  that  ono  of  the  new 
recruits  acquired  prominence  as  a  soldier. 
He  was  riding  a  very  high-spirited  and  fine 
cavalry  horse,  without  a  curb  to  his  bit.  On 
the  commencement  of  the  firing,  his  horse 
became  excited,  and  ran  away  with  him. 
Running  into  a  tree,  he  threw  his  rider  to  the 
ground,  and  passed  on,  leaving  him  afoot. 
The  spirit  of  the  recruit,  however,  was  not 
broken.  Rising  to  his  feet,  he  continued  his 
charge  on  foot,  and  overhauled  a  Dutch  cav 
alryman,  trying  to  force  his  horse  over  the 
rail  fence.  With  a  pistol  at  his  head  he  was 
politely  requested  to  surrender  and  dismount. 
The  recruit  was  again  soon  dashing  over  the 
field,  and  overtook  Ab  Wren  and  Walker 
Whaley  converging  from  the  dense  pine 
thicket,  leading  horses,  and  in  search  of  the 
command,  which  had  disappeared.  All  three 

of  the  party   being    provided  each  with   an 
10 


110  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

extra  horse,  concluded  to  return  to  Fauquier. 
On  their  way  back  they  were  overtaken  by 
Frank  Williams,  who  had  likewise  got  sep 
arated  from  the  command.  While  crossing 
Bull  Run,  they  were  overtaken  by  a  scouting- 
party  of  the  enemy.  The  odds  being  too 
great  to  offer  any  resistance,  a  precipitate 
retreat  followed,  and  Frank  Williams's  fine 
horse  which  he  had  just  captured  was  mired 
in  the  stream,  and  the  rider  was  compelled  to 
seek  the  bushes  to  save  himself  from  being 
captured.  Mosby,  after  waiting  on  the  field 
some  time  for  his  men  to  come  up,  resumed 
his  march,  with  fifteen  men,  to  Fairfax 
County,  where  he  captured  four  sutler- wag 
ons  heavily  laden  with  stores  of  every  descrip 
tion.  In  these  two  little  affairs,  twenty-five 
horses  and  twelve  prisoners  were  brought  out, 
without  loss  or  serious  injury  to  any  of  his 
men. 

On  the  9th  of  October,  Mosby  ordered 
thirty-five  of  his  men  to  meet  him  at  Hector's 
Cross  Roads.  At  noon  we  moved  off  in  the 
direction  of  Fairfax.  Mosby  alone  went 
ahead,  and  left  us  in  charge  of  Lieutenant 
William  II.  Smith.  The  first  night  out  we 
encamped  in  a  pine  forest  near  Frying-Pan, 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  HI 

in  Fairfax  County,  Mosby  joining  us  at  eleven 

o'clock  that  ni^ht.     Before  day  next  morning, 

• 

the  major,  with  John  Edmonds.  Ames,  John 
W.  Munson,  and  Dorsey  Warfield,  started 
out  on  a  scout,  and  penetrated  the  enemy's 
lines  as  far  as  Falls  Church.  Lieutenant 
Smith  and  Lieutenant  Hunter,  fearing  the 
enemy  might  find  out  our  proximity  to  them, 
changed  our  camp,  at  sunrise,  to  a  pine 
forest,  with  an  undergrowth  of  briars,  bam 
boo,  and  grape-vines  so  thick  that  a  rabbit 
could  scarcely  pass  through.  Here  we  re 
mained  until  orders  to  move  came  from  Mos 
by.  In  the  evening  of  that  day,  Johnny 
Edmonds  returned  with  orders  to  move  that 
night  to  a  certain  point  near  Guilford. 
Night  approached,  and  it  was  cloudy.  The 
men  could  not  imagine  how  they  could  get 
out  of  such  a  place  in  a  dark  night,  on  foot, 
to  say  nothing  of  horses.  But  all  relied  on 
Smith.  His  acquaintance  with  the  country 
(and  there  was  not  a  foot  of  ground  between 
the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  and  Washington 
that  he  did  not  know)  rendered  him  peculiarly 
fitted  for  this  kind  of  service.  At  ten  o'clock 
we  commenced  moving.  It  was  so  dark  we 
could  not  distinguish  his  fileman  riding  a 


112  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

white  horse.  We,  however,  got  out  safe, 
with  the  exception  of  the  loss  of  a  few  hats 
and  some  scratched  faces,  and  reached  Guil- 
ford  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  We 
fed  our  horses  with  new  corn,  and  grazed 
them  until  before  day  (Sunday),  when  we 
rode  to  a  point  on  the  turnpike  within  five 
miles  of  Alexandria,  reaching  it  at  sunrise. 

The  sun  never  rose  with  greater  splendor. 
The  air  was  fresh  and  bracing,  and  not  a  cloud 
broke  the  blue  sky  above.  Concealing  the 
men  in  the  dense  pine  forests,  some  three 
hundred  yards  from  the  turnpike,  Mosby  and 
Walker  Whaley  stationed  themselves  behind 
some  ivy  bushes  on  the  side  of  the  turnpike, 
and  Lieutenant  Smith  with  John  Munson 
took  a  similar  position  higher  up.  In  the 
distance,  towards  Alexandria,  could  be  heard 
the  tramp  of  horses  and  lumbering  of  wag 
ons.  Mosby,  with  his  keen  powers  of  per 
ception,  knew  instantly  what  the  noise  meant. 
In  a  few  minutes  the  advance  of  the  cavalry 
came  in  full  view,  and  passed  on  within 
twenty  steps  of  where  the  Major  was  stand 
ing.  The  main  column  consisted  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty  men.  Then  came  the  wag 
ons.  This  guard  being  to  strong  for  us  to 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  113 

cope  with,  Mosby  let  them  pass  on,  and  the 
wagons  too.  In  the  train  there  were  seventy- 
five,  and  opposite  Mosby  there  was  one  of 
those  bad  places  in  the  turnpike  which  were 
very  general  on  public  highways  in  those 
days,  especially  those  used  by  the  Govern 
ment  wagons.  Mosby  watched  this  hole,  and 
knew  it  would  be  the  means  of  his  making  a 
capture.  All  the  teams  passed  through  with 
difficulty  until  the  third  from  the  last  one 
reached  it;  that  stalled,  and  the  other  two 
could  not  pass  it.  In  the  meanwhile  the  col 
umn  passed  on,  and  got  a  half-mile  ahead 
before  the  team  got  out  of  it.  Just  as  the 
last  wagon  disappeared  behind  a  hill,  Mosby 
and  Whaley  rode  out,  and  politely  requested 
the  drivers  to  drive  their  teams  after  him. 
They  complied  readily,  and  turned  off  the 
turnpike  into  a  private  road  leading  into  the 
pines  where  the  men  were  patiently  awaiting 
the  arrival.  They  met  with  a  cordial  recep 
tion.  The  drivers,  passengers,  and  horses 
were  soon  taken  out  of  the  wagon  and  sent 
back  farther  into  the  woods,  and  placed  in 
the  custody  of  Lieutenant  Hunter.  The 
teams  had  hardly  stopped  when  commenced 

one  of  the  most  exciting  and  amusing  scenes 
o* 


114  MOSBY  AND  BIS  MEN. 

ever  witnessed  by  any  one.  Not  waiting  to 
remove  the  covers  off  the  wagons,  Bob  Lake 

and  John ,  being  the  first  to  mount  the 

wagons,  out  with  their  pocket-knives,  and 
soon  a  crevice  was  made  large  enough  to  admit 
the  head  of  a  person.  Insensibly  the  bodies 
were  drawn  in,  and  nothing  was  seen  but  feet 
projecting.  Woollen  shirts  of  every  hue  and 
style,  oysters,  sardines,  fruits  in  cans,  sugar, 
coffee,  tea,  &c.,  &c.,  were  found.  But  the  most 
acceptable  of  all  was  one  hundred  and  seven 
ty-five  pairs  of  fine  cavalry  boots.  No  three 
wagons  were  ever  unloaded  as  quick  as  they 
were ;  and,  while  this  was  going  on,  a  whole 
brigade  of  cavalry  passed,  in  full  view  of  us, 
up  to  the  army.  A  great  quantity  of  neces 
saries  were  hid  in  the  bushes,  with  the  view 
of  returning  to  bring  them  off.  Each  man 
being  provided  with  a  sack,  and  some  with 
two,  filled  them.  The  rest  that  was  not  hid 
was  scattered  over  the  ground. 

Lieutenant  Smith,  with  his  party,  captured 
one  stray  wagon,  which  was  about  a  mile  be 
hind  the  train,  that  was  loaded  with  cigars, 
tobacco,  candies,  cheeses,  sugar,  syrups,  &c., 
&c.  Mosby,  with  two  men,  including  myself, 
went  over  to  see  if  anything  could  be  brought 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  115 

off.  On  reaching  the  point  where  the  wagon 
was,  under  a  hill  on  the  banks  of  a  small 
stream,  I  was  placed  on  picket  behind  a  large 
tree  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  about  fifty 
yards  from  the  turnpike,  while  the  party  went 
through  the  wagon.  In  a  few  minutes  one 
Jersey  wagon  came  along.  I  gave  the  alarm, 
and  Mosby  came  up,  and  we  rode  out  to  bring 
the  prize  in.  On  reaching  it  the  Major  found 
an  old  friend  of  his,  with  wife,  returning 
empty  from  Alexandria,  where  he  had  been 
to  get  his  groceries.  He  had  been  refused  at 
Alexandria  on  account  of  his  Southern  senti 
ments  ;  and  Mosby  invited  him  over  to  help 
himself,  free  of  charge,  which  he  did  cheer 
fully.  Out  of  this  team  we  appropriated 
nothing  but  three  boxes  of  raisins,  which 
were  kept  for  the  ensuing  winter,  for  a  mam 
moth  plum  pudding. 

Returning  to  the  command,  Mosby  moved 
us  some  three  miles  farther  into  the  pines, 
with  the  view  of  surprising  a  camp  of  black 
Dutch  cavalry  numbering  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty.  All  preparations  having  been  com 
pleted,  we  only  awaited  the  approach  of 
night  to  move.  The  scouts,  Charlie  Hall  and 
Frank  Williams,  had  returned,  after  an  ab- 


116  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

sence  of  all  day,  and  represented  the  camp  as 
a  very  soft  thing.  But  the  escaping  of  a  pris 
oner  (Union  citizen)  induced  Mosby  to  aban 
don  the  enterprise  for  fear  he  would  inform 
the  enemy  of  our  plans.  This  citizen  was  a 
dangerous  character,  and  had  on  former 
occasions  given  the  enemy  information  of  our 
being  about.  So  soon  as  his  escape  was 
known,  Mosby  abandoned  his  project  for  the 
present,  and  moved  his  men  back  to  London 
County.  A  division  of  the  plunder  was 
made  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Kidwcll,  and  the 
men  disbanded,  while  Mosby,  with  two  men, 
returned  to  Fairfax.  Our  long  absence  had 
aroused  the  most  serious  apprehensions  for 
our  safety.  On  former  raids  we  had  never 
been  absent  more  than  three  days  at  the 
farthest ;  but  on  this  we  were  out  six  days, 
and  our  friends  in  Fauquier  having  received 
no  intelligence  concerning  us  dining  our 
absence,  were  apprehensive  all  were  cap 
tured.  Our  return  was  received  with  great 
rejoicing  in  Fauquier.  On  this  raid  not  a 
pistol  was  fired,  while  we  captured  and 
destroyed  seventy-five  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  property. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


AFFAIR  WITH  A  DETACHMENT  OF  CAVALRY  — CAPTURE  OF  A  WAGON- 
TRAIN—ORGANIZATION  OF  ANOTHER  COMPANY  — FEASTING  —  AT 
TACK  UPON  THE  CAMP  AT  WARRENTON  —  PRISONERS,  ETC.,  TAKEN. 


ON  the  third  day  after  our  return,  Mosby 
ordered  a  meeting  of  all  the  men  at 
Middlebury.  The  whole  Yankee  army  was 
on  the  move  ;  and,  if  possible,  he  would  cap 
ture  some  of  their  wagon  -  trains.  The 
guards,  however,  were  too  strong  for  us  to  do 
anything.  We  then  looked  out  for  patrols 
and  scouting-parties.  Returning  from  Fair 
fax,  in  Prince  William  County,  we  fell  in 
with  a  detachment  of  cavalry,  and  captured 
twenty  horses  and  the  same  number  of  pris 
oners  ;  also  forty  mules  they  were  leading  to 
the  army.  On  going  through  them,  we 
found  in  their  saddle-pockets,  sardines,  oys 
ters,  peaches  in  cans,  &c.,  which  they^had  got 
from  the  wagons  abandoned  by  us  one  week 

(117) 


1 18  MOSDY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

before.       All  hands  returned  home  without 
loss  or  injury  to  any  one. 

One  week  after  this,  thirty  of  the  men 
were  taken  by  the  Major  to  Fairfax.  Noth 
ing  was  accomplished  on  this  occasion  except 
the  capturing  of  six  horses  and  prisoners  at 
Centreville.  On  the  day  of  our  return,  a 
meeting  was  held  at  Rectortown,  a  little  vil 
lage  on  the  Manassas  Gap  Railroad.  There 
was  a  full  attendance.  Mosby  made  a  detail 
of  thirty  men  with  fresh  horses,  to  meet  him 
at  sunset  in  Salem.  At  dark  he  moved  off  in 
the  direction  of  Warrenton.  Leaving  that 
place  to  his  right,  he  proceeded  to  New  Balti 
more,  and  struck  here,  before  daybreak,  a  wag 
on-train,  and  captured  one  hundred  and  fifty 
mules,  forty  horses,  twenty -five  Yankees,  and 
fourteen  negroes,  and  returned  the  next 
morning  without  loss  or  injury.  The  appear 
ance  of  such  a  large  body  of  mules,  horses, 
&c.,  produced  the  greatest  excitement  along 
the  route  of  our  return.  Our  friends  ima 
gined  we  were  the  enemy,  and  we  amused 
ourselves  very  much  seeing  the  citizens  run 
ning  off  their  stock  to  the  woods  and  moun 
tains.  "The  horses  were  divided  amongst  the 
men.  The  prisoners,  including  the  negroes, 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  119 

were  sent  to  Richmond,  and  the  mules  were 
sold  to  the  Government.  Mosby,  being  so 
successful  on  this  raid,  concluded  to  take  the 
whole  command  dowrn  to  the  same  place  next 
day.  On  reaching  New  Baltimore,  he  found 
he  was  just  one  hour  too  late.  A  train  of 
over  one  hundred  wagons  had  passed  up  with 
out  a  single  guard.  We  returned  next  day 
to  Fauquier,  and  were  disbanded  until  further 
orders. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  command  took 
place  at  Scuffleburg,  on  the  1st  day  of  Octo 
ber,  1863.  Scuffleburg  is  a  small  village 
situated  about  midway  on  the  road  between 
Markham  and  Paris,  in  the  hollow  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  and  is  a  place  pecul 
iarly  adapted  to  the  meeting  of  partisan 
rangers  to  transact  business  pertaining  to 
their  system  of  warfare.  The  buildings  of 
the  town  consist  of  one  blacksmith-shop  with 
residence  attached  thereto,  and  a  wheel 
wright's  shop.  The  enemy  had  never  visited 
the  place.  During  the  years  1863  and  1864, 
or  rather  the  year  after  the  occupation  of 
Fauquier  County  by  Mosby,  it  was  considered 
a  place  of  no  little  importance  by  the  enemy. 
It  was  near  this  place  the  heroic  and  lamented 


120  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Ashby  was  born,  and  over  this  road  that 
Jackson  made  some  of  his  celebrated  flank 
movements.  It  was  also  considered  as  the 
headquarters  of  the  "  guerilla  Mosby,"  and  a 
rendezvous  of  his  men.  The  enemy  ima 
gined  it  a  second  Gibraltar,  filled  with  all 
kinds  of  infernal  machines  and  implements 
of  warfare,  and  believed  that  none  of  them 
who  got  there  ever  returned.  The  foot  of  no 
Yankee  soldier  ever  trod  its  magnificent 
thoroughfares,  or  reposed  his  wearied  form 
under  the  stately  oaks  and  chestnuts,  from  the 
rays  of  the  burning  sun,  while  the  mountain 
breeze  refreshed  his  burning  cheek  with  the 
perfume  of  the  wild  honeysuckle,  and  the  air 
was  musical  with  the  songs  of  birds,  until 
General  Meade  occupied  that  country  on  his 
pursuit  of  General  Lee,  after  his  Pennsyl 
vania  campaign. 

The  meeting  on  the  1st  of  October  was  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  the  second  com 
pany  of  the  Forty-third  Virginia  Battalion 
of  Cavalry,  Company  B.  Company  A  had 
assumed  the  proportions  of  a  battalion  itself, 
and  Mosby  concluded  to  organize  another 
company.  All  the  men  were  drawn  up  in-  a 
line,  and  Mosby  selected  sixty  therefrom,  and 


THOMAS  \V.  S.  RICHARDS, 


MOSB7  AND  HIS  MEN.  121 

ordered  the  men  to  go  into  an  election  of  of 
ficers.  William  R.  Smith  of  Fauquier  County, 
in  view  of  the  distinguished  services  he  had 
rendered  the  Confederacy  while  a  lieutenant  of 
the  famous  Black  Horse  Cavalry,  —  his  noble 
spirit,  generous  disposition,  attachment  to  the 
men,  and,  above  all,  his  daring  courage,  and 
extensive  knowledge  of  the  country,  —  was 
unanimously  elected  captain  of  Company  B. 
Frank  Williams,  of  Fairfax,  who  had,  since 
the  commencement  of  the  war,  made  so  many 
of  the  enemy  bite  the  dust  in  his  own  native 
country,  and  was  such  a  terror  to  them,  was 
elected  first  lieutenant ;  and  Albert  Wren 
and  Bob  Grey,  who  had  rendered  similar 
services,  were  elected  second  and  third  lieu 
tenants.  Horace  Johnson  of  Warrenton, 
who  had  served  with  Smith  in  the  Black 
Horse  Cavalry,  with  distinction,  was  ap 
pointed  orderly  sergeant.  After  the  organ 
ization,  Captain  Smith  disbanded  us,  with 
orders  to  meet  him  the  next  day  at  Salem. 
Forty  men  reported  for  duty.  At  noon  we 
moved  in  the  direction  of  Warrenton.  On 
the  approach  of  night  there  was  every  indi 
cation  of  a  storm  The  clouds  increased  in 

blackness,  and  the  darkness  was  beyond  the 
11 


122  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

power  of  conception.  Indeed,  so  intense  was 
the  darkness,  the  men  could  not  distinguish 
their  filemen.  The  rain  fell  in  torrents,  and 
we  moved  only  when  we  had  lightning.  At 
twelve  o'clock  we  reached  the  home  of  our 
captain,  and  sought  shelter  in  a  schoolhouse, 
some  two  hundred  yards  from  the  house, 
tying  our  horses  to  the  trees.  The  captain's 
mother  and  sisters  had  prepared  a  sumptuous 
supper  for  us,  after  which,  William  Chapman 
and  Montjoy  sang  delightfuly  for  the  ladies. 
On  the  break  of  day  we  moved  back  to  the 
mountains  and  disbanded,  with  orders  to  meet 
at  Mr.  Cross's,  about  six  miles  from  Warren- 
ton,  punctually,  at  four  o'clock.  We  scattered 
over  the  neighborhood,  and  were  welcomed 
and  hospitably  entertained  by  the  farmers. 

Mr.  ,  at  whose  house  myself  and  friend 

(Foley  Kemper,  nephew  of  General  Kemper) 
were  entertained,  and  his  acomplished  daugh 
ters,  and  estimable  lady,  were  particularly 
kind  to  us.  We  listened  with  delight  to 
their  performances  on  the  piano,  and  their 
singing.  And  now,  at  this  distant  day,  when 
I  recall  the  hours  I  have  spent  so  happily 
around  the  firesides  of  our  friends  in  that 
country,  in  the  society  of  their  charming 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  123 

daughters,  it  seems  like  a  dream.  Our  high 
appreciation  of  those  kind  offices  shown 
while  we  were  with  them,  has  been  suffi 
ciently  demonstrated  by  the  protection  we 
afforded  them. 

Four  o'clock  came  and  all  hands  at  Mr. 
Cross's.  Taking  a  private  road  we  moved 
towards  Warrenton,  and  reached  an  old 
church  on  the  main  road,  some  two  and  a 
half  miles  from  Warrenton,  about  dark. 
Here  wre  took  a  stand.  Before  us  could  be 
distinctly  seen  the  signal  lights  on  the  cu 
pola  of  the  Court  House.  Pickets  were 
posted,  with  orders  to  allow  no  one  to  pass 
either  way.  At  eleven  o'clock  we  moved 
oif,  observing  the  utmost  quiet.  Not  even  a 
whisper  broke  the  stillness  of  the  night. 
The  night  being  very  dark  the  town  was 
flanked  without  discovery.  Indeed,  so  im 
portant  was  it  that  no  noise  should  be  made, 
that  rocky  places  in  by-paths  were  covered 
with  oil-cloths  and  blankets  to  prevent  the 
noise  of  the  tramp  of  our  horses  being  heard 
by  the  enemy.  We  got  three  miles  in  the 
rear  of  the  town  and  halted  under  a  high  hill, 
out  of  view  of  the  enemy's  pickets.  Captain 
Smith,  William  Chapman,  and  Montjoy  went 


124  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

out  to  ascertain  the  exact  position  and  strength 
of  the  enemy,  who  were  only  about  one  mile 
distant.  They  passed  all  through  the  ene 
my's  camp  on  foot,  having  tied  their  own 
horses  amongst  those  of  the  enemy.  They 
found  the  capture  of  the  camp  a  difficult 
matter,  owing  to  the  fact  of  the  number  of 
soldiers  being  doubled  the  day  before ;  and, 
instead  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  men, 
there  were  two  hundred  and  fifty.  In  ad 
dition  to  that,  their  position  was  a  peculiar 
one.  Their  camp  was  on  the  brow  of  a  hill 
formed  like  a  horse-shoe.  At  the  base  of 
this  hill,  or  in  the  bottom,  were  some  apple- 
trees,  to  which  their  horses  were  tied,  while 
on  the  slope  of  the  hill  were  their  tents. 
From  the  front  of  their  camp  or  top  of  the 
hill,  were  roads  diverging  in  every  direction, 
and  strong  pickets  posted  thereon.  In  their 
rear  was  an  open,  low  country  extending  for 
a  mile,  as  it  likewise  did  on  both  sides,  and 
no  pickets  posted.  A  consultation  was  held 
as  to  how  the  attack  should  be  made.  Chap 
man  and  Montjoy  urged  the  attack  in  front 
to  charge  the  pickets  and  follow  them  in. 
Smith  thought  otherwise.  lie  determined  to 
attack  them  with  his  small  squad  in  the  rear. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  125 

Their  long  absence  began  to  excite  serious 
apprehensions  as  to  their  safety.  Several 
picket-shots  were  heard,  and  it  was  believed, 
amongst  the  men,  our  raid  would  be  a  failure. 
Finally,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
Smith,  Chapman,  and  Montjoy  returned. 
Diligent  inquiries  were  made  of  the  officers, 
by  the  men,  as  to  their  intentions.  They  re 
ceived  the  consoling  reply  :  — 

"  If  you  all  will  go  in^  there  will  be  a  horse 
for  each  of  you.11 

The  order  was  given  to  mount,  and  soon 
the  camp-fires  of  the  enemy  were  seen  in  the 
distance.  On  approaching  nearer,  the  num 
ber  of  the  fires  increased.  It  was  about  half 
past  four  the  attack  was  made.  Not  expect 
ing  a  call  from  the  rebels  at  that  hour  in  the 
morning,  they  permitted  us  to  get  within  ten 
yards  of  their  fires  (around  which  some  of 
the  enemy  were  sitting)  before  Captain  Smith 
ordered  the  charge.  The  boys  gave  one  of 
their  unearthly  yells  ;  and,  in  an  instant,  we 
were  in  the  centre  of  their  camp,  firing  right 
and  left,  dealing  death  wherever  our  shots 
were  directed.  In  the  charge  of  the  advance, 
one  voice  (Sam  A.)  could  be  heard  ringing 

through  the  air  like  a  clarion  voice,  "  Give 
11* 


126  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

me  your  greenbacks  !  surrender  ! "  Some  of 
the  men  charged  through  the  fires.  The 
enemy  rallied  in  a  few  moments,  on  the  top 
of  the  hill,  and  commenced  a  charge  down 
on  our  left  flank,  firing  at  the  same  time  sev 
eral  volleys  from  their  carbines.  Captain 
Smith,  with  his  quick  powers  of  perception, 
seeing  the  imminent  danger  of  his  small  band 
being  cut  off  and  probably  captured,  gave 
the  order  to  "  bring  up  the  other  squadron." 
The  enemy,  thinking  we  had  a  large  reserve 
behind,  commenced  retreating  to  the  top  of 
the  hill,  where  they  contented  themselves 
with  firing  over  our  heads.  We  in  the  mean 
while  secured  twenty-seven  horses,  six  pris 
oners,  and  one  negro,  and  retreated,  under 
cover  of  night,  without  loss  or  injury  to  any 
one,  although  the  Yankee  commander  of  the 
post  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  War  at 
Washington,  "  He  was  attacked  that  morning 
by  a  body  of  guerillas.  They  were  repulsed 
ivith  heavy  loss.  It  is  supposed  a  large  number 
were  killed  and  wounded,  as  they  could  be  tracked 
for  miles  by  the  blood  of  their  wounded  which 
they  carried  off  with  them.1' 


CHAPTER   XII. 


CAPTURE  OF  TWO  CORRESPONDENTS  OF  THE  "NEW  YORK  HERALD" 
—  EXPEDITION  TO  CAPTURE  GOVERNOR  PIERPONT  —  RAID  TO 
BEALTON  STATION,  ETC. 


IN  the  month  of  November  of  this  year, 
1863,  while  Mosby  was  returning  from  a 
scout  in  Fairfax,  in  passing  through  the  little 
village  of  Auburn,  he  captured  two  corre 
spondents  of  the  "  New  York  Herald,"  at  Mr. 
McCormick's.  On  Mosby' s  appearance  in 
front  of  the  house,  the  front  door  was  closed, 
and  admission  denied  him.  An  order  from 
him,  however,  soon  opened  it.  The  greatest 
excitement  prevailed  amongst  the  ladies. 
On  tendering  the  correspondents  the  contents 
of  two  revolvers  if  they  did  not  surrender, 
they  gracefully  complied  with  the  Major's 
request.  The  ladies  threatened  to  bring 
down  the  displeasure  of  General  Lee  on 
Major  Mosby 's  head  if  he  did  not  release 

(127) 


128  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

their  friends.  Mosby  was  not  a  man  to  be 
intimidated  in  that  way.  He  invited  them  to 
their  horses,  which  they  mounted,  and  re 
turned  with  him  to  Fauquier.  There  they 
were  furnished  with  a  military  escort  to  Rich 
mond. 

A  few  days  after  this,  Mosby  took  four 
picked  men  on  a  scouting  expedition  to  Fair 
fax,  with  the  intention  of  capturing  Governor 
Pierpont.  lie  penetrated  the  enemy's  lines 
to  the  very  gates  of  Alexandria.  On  reach 
ing  the  house  in  which  he  expected  to  find 
the  Governor,  he  learned  he  had  left  that 
evening  for  Washington  City.  He  then 
proceeded  to  the  house  of  Colonel  Dulaney. 
Mosby,  on  entering  the  house,  was  met  at  the 
door  by  the  colonel.  Dulaney  expressed  de 
light  "  at  meeting  with  Jesse  scouts,"  and 
invited  Mosby  in,  and  asked  him  his  business, 
when  to  his  amazement,  French  Dulaney,  his 
son,  stepped  in  and  invited  his  father  to  get 
on  his  horse  and  accompany  them  to  Fauquier 
and  Richmond. 

Early  in  December,  Mosby,  with  seventy 
men,  started  on  a  raid  to  Bealton  Station,  on 
the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad.  We 
arrived  within  three  miles  of  the  place  the 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  129 

first  night,  remaining  in  the  woods  until  day 
light,  when  we  moved  up  the  railroad  about 
five  miles,  and  took  up  a  position  among 
some  heavy  timber,  concealing  ourselves  from 
the  enemy.  On  each  side  of  us  were  en 
camped  Gregg's  cavalry,  while  in  front,  about 
one  mile  distant,  on  a  high  hill,  were  the  gen 
eral's  headquarters,  at  which  there  was  a 
morning's  review  of  the  troops.  In  this 
position  we  remained  in  the  rain  until  noon, 
watching  for  a  wagon  train  to  return  from  the 
depot  loaded  with  supplies  for  headquarters, 
when  John  Munspn  and  Walter  Whale y 
brought  in  two  bluebirds,  one  walking  and 
the  other  riding.  The  one  riding  was  a  guard 
and  bearer  of  dispatches  to  General  Gregg's 
headquarters  ;  the  other  afoot  was  a  deserter 
under  sentence  of  death,  and  was  on  his  way 
to  be  shot.  The  condemned  man  nas  set  at 
liberty  on  a  captured  mule,  and  the  bearer 
of  dispatches  sent  to  Richmond.  Mosby 
almost  despaired  of  the  wagon  -  tram's  re 
turning  ;  wrhilc  the  men,  cold,  wringing  wet, 
and  the  rain  falling  in  torrents,  thought  of 
returning  to  Fauquier.  At  two  o'clock  those 
apprehensions  were  dispelled  by  the  order  to 
"  mount  your  horses."  Mosby  ordered  Captain 


130  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Smith  to  take  Company  B,  and  charge  the 
enemy  in  front,  while  he  took  fifteen  men  of 
Company  A,  and  attacked  them  in  the  rear. 
He  succeeded  in  cutting  off  the  rear  and 
capturing  the  whole  party,  consisting  of  five 
wagons  loaded  with  medical  stores,  and  a 
guard  of  twenty-five  cavalry.  By  a  miscal 
culation  of  the  distance,  Mosby  did  not  strike 
them  until  after  Smith  was  in,  and  then  on 
their  flank.  Notwithstanding  the  rain,  which 
fell  in  torrents,  Smith,  with  Company  B, 
swept  down,  like  a  tornado,  on  the  guard 
which  was  in  the  advajice.  The  enemy 
made  not  the  slightest  resistance,  not  even 
firing  a  shot,  but  wheeled  and  made  for  their 
camp,  which  was  about  one  mile  distant, 
leaving  the  wagons  and  teams  a  prey  to  us. 
Two  of  the  guard,  however,  were  captured, 
besides  eight  fine  mules  and  six  horses. 
Mosby  sustained  no  injury  whatever.  The 
wagons  were  loaded  with  valuable  medical 
stores,  and  had  the  capture  been  anywhere 
else  than  in  sight  of  the  general's  headquar 
ters,  they  would  have  been  brought  off  and 
sent  to  General  Lee.  One  or  two  men 
secured  a  few  valuable  articles  used  in  sur 
gery,  and  turned  them  over  to  Dr.  Dunn,  sur- 


MOSDY  AND  HIS  MEN.  131 

geon  of  the  battalion.  The  fugitives,  having 
reached  camp,  reported  our  audacity ;  and 
one  regiment  of  cavalry  was  sent  in  pursuit. 
They  pursued  us  until  dark. 

Captain  Stringfellow,  one  of  General 
Stuart's  scouts,  was  our  scout  on  this  oc 
casion,  and,  in  company  with  one  of  our 
men,  stopped  at  Mr.  Skinker's,  six  miles 
from  Warrenton,  under  the  mountains,  to 
stay  all  night.  The  rest  of  the  men  had 
crossed  the  Bull  Run  Mountains,  and  gone 
into  camp  at  Salem.  The  enemy,  thinking  a 
number  of  our  men  would  lie  over  at  Mr. 
Skinker's  until  next  morning,  surrounded  the 
house  and  commenced  an  indiscriminate  firing 
into  the  windows  and  doors,  to  the  great  peril 
of  Mr.  Skinker's  family,  calling,  during  the 
firing,  for  Mosby's  men  to  come  out.  String- 
fellow,  perceiving  no  avenue  of  escaping  out 
of  the  house,  secreted  himself  in  one  of  those 
secret  closets  which  oar  Southern  friends 
always  had  ready  for  us,  and  escaped,  al 
though  the  enemy  instituted  a  diligent  search. 
The  enemy  carried  back  with  them  Stringfel- 
low's  horse  and  fine  mare,  which  he  had  just 
captured  of  them  ;  also  Mr.  Skinker  and  his 
son,  whom  they  rolbed  of  one  thousand  six 


132  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

hundred  dollars  in  greenbacks.  Mr.  S.  and  son 
were  sent  to  "Warrenton  and  to  Washington. 
The  next  morning,  before  day,  the  pursuit 
was  resumed.  Taking  the  road  direct  to 
Salem,  the  enemy  dashed  in  there  at  early 
breakfast,  and  captured  two  of  our  men  wKb 
had  been  detailed  to  go  out  with  the  prison 
ers.  The  sergeant  of  the  guard,  Dorsey 
Warfield,  sent  our  prisoners  on  to  Oak  Hill, 
three  miles  farther,  while  he  and  several  of 
the  men  stopped  there  to  see  their  families. 
It  was  in  Salem,  on  this  occasion,  a  young 
man,  who  will  hereafter  figure  most  conspic 
uously  on  every  raid  made  by  Mosby,  exhib 
ited  a  spirit  of  coolness  and  bravery  rarely 
excelled  by  any  one  during  the  whole  war, 
and  whose  conduct  pleased  Mosby  so  much 
that  he  made  him  first  lieutenant  of  Compa 
ny  C.  When  the  enemy  dashed  into  town, 
very  few  of  the  citizens  were  up ;  and,  before 
he  could  dress  himself,  the  place  was  sur 
rounded,  and  all  avenues  of  escape  closed. 
Fearing  they  would  spend  the  day  there,  he 
determined,  by  one  bold  movement,  to  free 
himself.  His  horse  had  been  taken  by  the 
enemy.  He  buckled  on  his  pistols,  and 
started  out  afoot,  with  the  determination  of 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  133 

fighting  his  way  through  thetn.  He  managed 
by  adroitness  to  get  some  distance  from  town 
before  discovery.  Five  cavalrymen  charged 
him  and  fired.  The  compliment  was  returned 
by  him.  Being  a  splendid  shot,  he  made 
three  bite  the  dust.  The  other  two  retreated, 
and  he  mounted  a  Yankee  horse  and  escaped  ; 
he  receiving  in  the  affray  only  a  slight  wound 
in  the  hand.  This  young  man  was  Adolphus 
E.  Richards,  of  Fauquier  County,  Virginia, 
and  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  School. 
12 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


M09BY  CAPTURES  ONE  HUNDKED  AND  TWENTY  MULES  AND  TEN 
HORSES  FROM  A  WAGON-TRAIN,  BURNING  FORTY  WAGONS  — YAN 
KEES  CAPTURED  — BOLD  EXPLOIT  OF  MONTJOY. 


IN  December,  1863,  Mosby  took  the  com 
mand  to  Brandy  Station  on  the  Orange 
and  Alexandria  Railroad.  The  whole  Yan 
kee  army  was  moving  on  General  Lee's  lines 
on  the  Rappahannock.  At  the  Station,  part 
of  General  Sedgwick's  wagon-train,  guarded 
by  a  brigade  of  infantry,  was  preparing  to 
move.  The  large  camp-fires  illuminated  the 
country  for  miles  around.  The  wagon-master 
was  riding  up  and  down  the  train,  hurriedly 
urging  the  teamsters  to  hurry  up,  that  the 
rear  guard  had  moved  off.  Mosby,  with  two 
men,  rode  up  to  him,  and  complained  about 
the  delay  of  the  train.  He  also  rode  through 
the  guard  while  they  stood  around  the  fires 
with  their  arms  stacked,  and  conversed  with 

(134) 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  135 

them  in  regard  to  the  object  of  the  movement 
of  the  army.  He  thus  threw  the  enemy  off 
their  guard,  representing  his  cavalry  as  the 
last  of  their  rear-guard.  Returning  to  his 
command  he  placed  himself  at  their  head  and 
moved  them  quietly  to  the  wagons,  which 
were  standing  some  fifty  yards  from  the  fires, 
and  proceeded  to  detach  the  mules  and  horses, 
and  got  out  one  hundred  and  twenty  mules 
and  ten  horses  before  the  enemy  was  aware 
of  what  he  was  doing.  The  first  intimation 
they  had  of  his  doings  was  seeing  the  flames 
issuing  from  forty  wagons  which  had  been 
set  on  fire  by  the  last  of  his  men  that  left  the 
train.  Before  they  could  unstack  their  arms 
Mosby  was  out  of  their  reach,  with  the  mules 
and  horses.  They,  however,  fired  one  volley 
at  him,  without  inflicting  injury  upon  any  one. 
The  mules  were  sent  to  General  Lee,  and  the 
horses  divided  amongst  the  men. 

Mosby,  being  so  successful  on  this  raid, 
took  both  companies  to  Brandy  Station  the 
day  after  his  return,  with  the  hope  of  getting 
another  train.  In  the  meanwhile  General 
Meade  sent  two  regiments  of  Rhode  Island 
cavalry  back  to  protect  the  country  between 
the  Rappahannock  and  Hazel  rivers.  After 


136  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

crossing  Hazel  River,  at  sunset,  we  halted 
under  a  hill  about  half  a  mile  from  the  Well- 
ford  Farmhouse,  now  owned  by  a  Union  cit 
izen  of  Richmond,  to  await  further  orders 
from  Mosby,  who  had  gone  ahead  of  his  men 
with  Stringfellow.  Not  hearing  from  him  by 
seven  o'clock,  Lieutenant  Thomas  Turner,  of 
Company  A,  moved  us  up  to  the  Wellford 
House,  and  occupied  the  out-houses  which 
had  been  used  by  the  enemy  as  meat-houses. 
Fires  were  built  in  the  old-fashioned  fire 
places,  out  of  the  boxes  left  by  the  enemy, 
and  we  made  ourselves  as  comfortable  as  cir 
cumstances  would  permit.  At  ten  o'clock 
that  night,  Mosby  and  Stringfellow  returned 
with  two  Yankees,  belonging,  they  said,  to 
an  Indiana  regiment.  They  were  very  soon 
gone  through.  Mosby  captured  them  while 
they  were  out  foraging.  On  examining  them, 
papers  and  books  were  found  which  they  had 
stolen  from  the  library  of  a  gentleman  (a  Mr. 
Thorn)  in  Culpepper  County,  whose  house 
they  had  plundered  and  burned,  turning  the 
whole  family  out  of  doors  with  only  the 
clothes  on  their  backs,  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  he  was  a  Southern  man.  The  next 
morning  we  recrossed  the  Hazel  River,  and 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  137 

lay  in  the  dense  pine  woods  adjoining   the 
farm  of  Mr.  Majors. 

Mosby  having  learned  the  position  of  the 
enemy  on  the  other  side  of  the  Hazel  Eiver 
during  his  absence,  sent  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Turner,  Montjoy,  Henry  Ashby,  and  three 
others  out  reconnoitring.  They  recrossed 
the  Hazel,  and  proceeded  to  the  enemy's  camp 
to  see  if  anything  could  be  done.  Turner, 
concealing  his  men  from  the  enemy  in  some 
bushes  near  their  camp,  began,  with  Montjoy, 
to  dodge  around  their  camp.  The  Yankees, 
seeing  them,  sent  one  man  out  to  see  who 
they  were.  He  was  ic  gobbled  up,"  and  they 
sent  out  another  who  shared  a  similar  fate. 
Turner  and  Montjoy  then  returned  to  their 
comrades  ;  and,  after  a  few  moments'  delay, 
proceeded  to  take  a  picket-post  of  ten  men 
just  as  they  were  being  posted  some  two 
hundred  yards  from  the  camp.  The  two 
prisoners  fell  into  line,  and  accompanied 
them,  riding  in  front.  The  weather  was  in 
tensely  cold,  and  all  the  party  wore  blue 
overcoats  (except  Turner  and  Montjoy)  to 
deceive  the  enemy.  Their  movements  did 
not  attract  the  attention  of  the  enemy  until 

they  were  within  fifty  yards   of  the   picket, 
12* 


138  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

when  they  were  halted  by  the  sergeant  of  the 
guard  with,  — 

"  Halt !    who  comes  there  ?  " 

"  Friends"  replied  Montjoy. 
. "  What  command  ? "  again  cries  the  picket. 

"  First  Maine  Cavalry  !  "  responds  Montjoy. 

"  All  right,  —  advance  !  "  cries  the  picket; 
and  Montjoy  moves  up  by  twos  to  the  post, 
each  man  passing  on  either  side.  After  some 
moments'  conversation,  Montjoy  instructed 
them  to  "  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  Mosly" 
At  a  certain  signal  nearly  every  picket  had  a 
pistol  pointed  at  his  head,  with  the  invitation 
to  follow  them.  Being  almost  paralyzed  by 
the  boldness  and  audacity  of  Montjoy 's  trick 
in  the  broad  blaze  of  day  (it  being  about 
noon),  and  so  near  their  camps,  they  com 
plied,  without  the  least  show  of  resistance; 
and  all  the  post  were  soon  the  other  side  of 
the  Hazel  in'  a  safe  place.  Their  capture 
was  soon  discovered,  and  a  party  started  in 
pursuit.  These  approached  the  river  cau 
tiously  ;  and,  after  displaying  themselves  on 
the  high  hills  a  mile  distant  from  us,  they  re 
turned  to  their  camps  without  firing  a  shot. 
Montjoy  and  Turner  had  only  six  men  with 
them,  and  captured  twelve  prisoners,  horses, 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  139 

and  accoutrements,  without  loss  or  injury. 
Mosby,  coming  up  in  a  short  time,  ordered 
us  to  return  to  Fauquier.  The  weather  be 
ing  so  intensely  cold,  nothing  was  done  until 
the  1st  day  of  January,  1864. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


AFFAIR  WITH  COLONEL  COLE'S  CAVALRY— SIXTEEN  OUT  OF  EIGHTY 
"LEFT  TO  TELL  THK  TALE"  —  CAPTURE  OF  HORSES,  ETC.  —  EX 
CESSIVE  COLD  — SPLENDID  SCENE. 


THE  1st  of  January,  1864,  was  anything 
but  a  pleasant  day  for  a  soldier.  The 
snow  had  been  on  the  ground  for  two  weeks, 
thawing  in  the  daytime  and  freezing  at  night, 
until  it  was  absolutely  dangerous  to  travel  on 
horseback.  The  last  day  of  the  old  year, 
however,  was  very  pleasant;  and  the  snow 
and  ice  had  disappeared  in  great  measure. 
The  sun  on  the  morning  of  the  new  year  rose 
with  all  the  grandeur  of  which  the  imagina 
tion  can  conceive.  But  clouds  began  soon  to 
cover  the  sky,  and  by  noon  snow  was  "falling. 
Mosby  was  absent  on  a  scouting  expedition  in 
Fairfax ;  and  Captain  Smith  had  ordered  a 
meeting  of  the  men  at  Rcctortown,  with  the 
intention  of  making  a  new-year's  call  on  some 

(140) 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  141 

Yankee  camp.  The  enemy,  however,  con 
cluded  to  save  him  the  trouble ;  and,  accord 
ingly,  eighty  of  Colonel  Cole's  battalion  of 
Maryland  cavalry,  doing  guard  duty  at  Har 
per's  Ferry,  dashed  into  Upperville  about 
eight  o'clock  A.M.,  on  the  1st  day  of  Jan 
uary,  and  captured  two  or  three  of  our  men 
while  they  were  at  breakfast.  The  party  was 
commanded  by  a  Captain  Hunter  ;  and,  while 
there,  they  heard  we  were  to  have  a  meeting 
at  Rectortown  at  noon.  They  determined  to 
break  it  up.  Concluding  that  most  of  the 
men  were  absent  at  their  homes,  spending  the 
holidays,  no  resistance  was  apprehended. 
At  noon  it  was  snowing ;  and  some  ten  or 
twelve  had  met  at  Rectortown.  awaiting  the 

O 

arrival  of  Smith.  I  wras  at  Joe  Black  well's, 
our  headquarters,  and  had  just  left  Smith 
with  four  or  five  men  to  attend  meeting. 

As  I  was  crossing  the  railroad  at  Goose 
Creek,  some  two  miles  from  the  town,  three 
of  our  men  were  seen  dashing  into  Goose 
Creek  at  full  speed.  On  seeing  myself  and 
companion,  they  exclaimed,  "  Don't  go  to 
Rectortown :  it  is  full  of  Yankees,  and  we 
were  run  out  of  the  place."  I  immediately 
returned  to  Joe  Black  well's,  where  I  had  left 


142  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Smith,  and  reported  the  fact.  He  mounted 
his  horse,  and  bid  us  follow  him.  Duiing 
my  absence,  eight  or  ten  men  had  assembled 
there.  We  obeyed  his  order,  and  pushed  on, 
eager  for  the  prey.  Crossing  Goose  Creek, 
he  carried  us  to  Mrs.  Rawling's,  at  the  top  of 
a  hill,  and  told  us  to  remain  there  until 
further  orders  to  move ;  while  he,  Sam  Alex 
ander,  and  Frank  Williams  reconnoitred  a 
little  to  find  out  the  strength  of  the  enemy, 
their  position,  &c.,  &c.  The  suspense  we  were 
in  while  at  Mrs.  Rawling's  was  soon  relieved 
by  the  appearance  of  Frank  Williams  with 
orders  for  us  to  advance.  In  a  few  minutes 
we  were  in  Rectortown,  and  were  joined 
there  by  others  of  the  command,  which 
swelled  our  force  to  twenty-seven  in  all.  Not 
tarrying  there  any  time,  we  dashed  on  after 
the  enemy.  The  enemy,  in  leaving  Rector- 
town,  tried  to  deceive  us  by  taking  the 
Warrenton  Road.  Keeping  that  road  for  one 
and  a  half  miles,  they  filed  off  to  the  left, 
and  took  the  road  by  the  Five  Points  to  Mid- 
dlebury.  But  the  vigilant  eye  of  Smith 
could  not  be  deceived.  While  in  Rectortown, 
Smith  found  out  whose  command  they  be 
longed  to,  and  left  orders  for  us  to  take  the 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  143 

Five  Points  Road,  near  which  place  he  would 
join  us.  While  following  them  up,  we  were 
joined  in  Rectortown  by  others  of  our  com 
mand,  which  swelled  the  whole  to  twenty- 
seven  men  ;  and,  not  stopping  in  town,  we 
pushed  after  the  enemy.  Getting  outside  of 
the  limits  of  the  town,  R.  P.  Montjoy,  Henry 
Ashby,  and  John  Edmonds,  were  thrown 
forward  as  an  advanced  guard.  Just  beyond 
the  Points  our  advance  came  upon  the  rear 
of  the  enemy,  and  shots  wrere  exchanged. 
The  enemy  had  taken  a  strong  position  in  the 
road,  —  on  one  side  of  them  a  high  stone 
wall,  while  on  the  other  was  an  open,  cleared 
country,  extending  almost  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach.  So  we  could  take  no  advantage 
of  them.  They  had  formed  in  the  road,  and 
were  awaiting  our  attack.  Smith  threw  him 
self  at  the  head  of  his  men,  and  ordered  us 
to  charge,  so  that  we  would  have  the  bulge  on 
the  enemy.  At  the  first  fire,  Captain  Hunter, 
their  commander,  had  his  horse  shot  under 
him ;  and,  before  waiting  to  see  whether  or 
no  rider  and  horse  both  were  killed,  his  men 
were  seized  with  a  panic,  and  broke  and  fled 
in  every  direction.  An  effort  was  made  to 
rally  them  in  an  open  field,  on  the  right  of 


144  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

the  road :  but  the  gallant  Smith  would  not 
give  thejn  time ;  our  style  of  fighting  being 
to  pitch  in,  and  Ci  clean  "  the  enemy  out,  or 
be  "  cleaned  out."  In  we  went,  when 
Hunter's  horse  fell,  and  himself  was  made 
prisoner.  The  rest  retreated  in  great  confu 
sion,  through  woods  and  through  marshes, 
into  which  some  were  thrown  from  their 
horses  head-foremost,  and  stuck  there  some 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes  until  extricated  by  some 
of  our  men  who  had  charge  of  the  prisoners. 
Beyond  this  marsh,  some  three  hundred 
yards,  was  a  body  of  heavy-timbered  land,  in 
which  a  large  number  took  shelter,  hoping 
we  would  not  pursue  them.  Generally  woods 
do  afford  great  protection  from  the  attacking 
party ;  but,  in  this  instance,  they  sought  their 
own  captivity.  Back  of  these  woods  was  a 
little  stream  called  Carter's  Hun,  very  shallow 
and  narrow,  while  the  banks  were  high.  In 
jumping  their  horses  over  this  stream,  some 
fifteen  or  twenty  of  them  were  precipitated 
into  it  with  their  horses.  Sending  these  back 
to  the  rear,  Captain  Smith,  with  Lieutenant 
Turner,  Bush  Underwood,  and  ten  others, 
continued  the  pursuit  as  far  as  Woodgrove, 
Loudon  County.  Out  of  the  eighty  men 


MOSP.Y  AND  HIS  MEN.  145 

brought  up  to  "Mosby's  Confeaeracy "  by 
Captain  Hunter,  to  capture  Mosby  and  his 
men,  and  present  them  to  Father  Abraham  as 
a  new-year's  gift,  sixteen  only  got  back  to 
their  camp  at  Harper's  Ferry,  to  tell  the  tale. 
Eight  were  killed  on  the  field  ;  fifty-four  were 
sent  prisoners  to  Richmond ;  while  the 
wounded  were  paroled,  and  taken  by  the 
farmers  into  their  houses,  where  they  received 
every  attention.  Sixty  fine  horses,  with  equip 
ments,  including  thirty  fine  army  pistols,  were 
secured  and  distributed  amongst  the  victors. 
The  sabres  and  carbines  we  threw  away,  as 
they  were  weapons  we  had  no  use  for. 

And  I  will  here  suggest  to  the  Government 
agents,  now  collecting  Government  arms 
throughout  the  different  rebel  States,  that,  if 
they  will  make  a  visit  to  Mosby's  battle-fields, 
they  may  find  several  wagon-loads,  provided 
the  Freedman's  Bureau  has  not  given  them  to 
the  "  colored  gemmen."  Early  in  the  after 
noon  the  wind  shifted  around  to  the  north  ; 
and,  before  sunset  that  day,  the  mercury  was 
at  zero.  When  we  reached  Joe  BlackwelFs 
with  the  capture,  the  feet  of  our  men  were 
frozen  to  their  stirrups ;  while  the  prisoners, 
who  had  fallen  into  Carter's  Run,  were  just 

13 


146  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

one  sheet  of  ice,  and  nearly  frozen  speechless. 
Smith  had  placed  the  prisoners  in  my  custody 
until  after  the  division.  I  moved  them,  in 
cluding  our  men,  to  the  woods  on  the  left  of 
Joe  Blackwell's,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards ;  and  ordered  them  to  build  large  fires, 
and  warm  themselves,  while  we  awaited  the 
arrival  of  Captain  Smith,  who  in  a  few  min 
utes  rode  up  nearly  frozen.  In  a  short  time 
the  horses  and  pistols  were  soon  divided 
amongst  the  men,  and  a  detail  made  to  carry 
out  the  prisoners.  This  affair  was  of  such  a 
brilliant  character,  when  we  consider  the 
odds  against  us  being  nearly  four  to  one,  we 
having  nothing  but  pistols,  while  the  enemy 
were  armed  with  pistols,  sabres,  and  carbines, 
all  of  the  most  improved  kind,  elicited  from 
Major  Mosby  an  order  of  the  most  flattering 
character,  complimenting  Captain  Smith  and 
his  small  band  of  men  in  the  highest  man 
ner  for  their  bravery  and  success  in  this 
affair.  It  is  a  source  of  deep  regret  I  cannot 
produce  the  order  here  to  my  readers  ;  but 
it,  with  all  Major  Mosby's  papers,  reports, 
orders  pertaining  to  the  battalion,  from  Gen 
eral  Lee,  Stuart,  and  others,  were  burnt  up 
with  Joe  Blackwell's  house,  in  March,  1864. 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 


Colonel  Cole  met  with  such  a  brilliant  new- 
year's  reception  that  he  made  but  one  more 
expedition  into  "  Mosby's  Confederacy." 

The  scenery  on  the  mountains,  on  the 
evening  of  the  1st  of  January,  was  of  the 
most  sublime  character.  In  the  forenoon  of 
the  day,  a  wet  snow  fell,  and  melted  almost  as 
fast  as  it  fell.  The  air,  during  the  forenoon 
and  middle  of  the  day,  was  fresh  and  pleas 
ant  ;  but  the  winds  in  the  afternoon  shifted 
to  the  north,  and  at  sunset  everything  was 
frozen  hard.  Not  a  cloud  broke  the  blue 
sky  above  as  the  sun  was  setting  in  the  west 
behind  its  fiery  curtains.  The  mountains 
seemed  as  one  vast  sheet  of  ice,  and  the 
reflection  of  the  sun's  declining  rays  on  the 
scene  was  indeed  sublime.  It  was  a  scene 
which  would  have  enraptured  the  artist,  and 
inspired  the  poet. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


CAPTURE  BY  LIEUTENANT  TURNER  AND  HIS  MEN  — MEN  FROZEN  — 
CAPTAIN  STRINGFELLOW  —  DARING  EXPLOIT. 


HEAVY  and  deep  snows  fell  during  this 
week,  and  the  weather  continued  in 
tensely  cold  without  intermission ;  indeed,  so 
severe  was  the  cold  that  it  was  a  hard  matter 
to  get  the  men  to  expose  themselves  at  night. 
Notwithstanding  those  obstacles,  Lieutenant 
Thomas  Turner  and  Joe  Nelson,  of  Company 
A,  took  twenty-five  men,  on  the  night  of 
the  4th  of  January,  and  proceeded  to  a  point 
near  Warren  ton,  to  capture  a  patrol  of  fifty 
Yankees.  The  night  was  one  of  the  coldest 
ever  experienced  in  that  country  by  the  oldest 
residents.  The  mercury  stood  below  zero, 
and  snow  one  foot  deep  was  on  the  ground. 
Many  of  Turner's  men  had  their  hands  and 
feet  frost-bitten  that  night,  and  the  hands  of 

(148) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  149 

all  were  so  benumbed  with  cold  that  they 
could  scarcely  use  their  pistols  to  advantage. 
The  Yankees  felt  the  cold  almost  as  sensibly 
as  Turner's  men.  To  keep  comfortable,  they 
would  ride  up  and  down  the  road  without 
dismounting.  It  was  on  their  return  to  camp 
that  Turner  met  this  patrol.  As  I  said  be 
fore,  the  snow  was  on  the  ground  some 
twelve  inches  deep.  Fortunately  for  Turner, 
the  wind  was  blowing  almost  a  perfect  hurri 
cane,  which  had  the  effect  of  drowning  all 
noise  that  could  be  made  by  another  body  of 
cavalry  approaching.  In  fact,  so  perfectly 
safe  from  all  attack  by  "  guerillas "  did  the 
enemy  think  themselves  that  night,  that  Lieu 
tenant  Turner,  with  his  twenty-five  men,  rode 
up  within  ten  feet  of  them  before  they  knew 
we  were  about,  or  the  charge  was  ordered  by 
Turner,,  when  a  yell  and  deadly  fire  was 
opened  on  them  from  the  pistols  of  Turner's 
men.  The  surprise  was  so  great  and  un 
expected  that  not  the  slightest  resistance  was 
offered  by  the  enemy,  who  begged,  for  God's 
sake,  that  we  would  not  shoot  them.  Our 
firing  ceased  instantly.  We  "  gathered  to 
gether"  forty-five  horses  and  twenty-five  pris 
oners,  which  we  brought  off  safely.  The 

18* 


150  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

dead  and  wounded  were  left  on  the  field. 
Turner  had  not  a  rnan  injured  in  this  affair. 
However,  William  B.  Walston  lost  several 
toes  by  frost ;  General  Geary  lost  four  fingers 
from  one  hand ;  and  John  W.  Corbin,  of 
Accomac  County,  Virginia,  had  both  hands 
and  feet  frozen.  With  these  exceptions, 
there  were  no  casualties  whatever  on  this 
raid. 

On  the  7th  day  of  January,  Major  Mosby 
received  a  note  from  Captain  StringfeHow, 
written  in  London  County,  suggesting  his 
cooperation  with  him  in  capturing  "  Cole's 
Battalion,"  doing  picket  duty  on  the  London 
Heights,  opposite  Harper's  Ferry,  stating 
that  the  enemy  was  picketing  only  one  road, — 
the  turnpike  leading  to  Hillsboro',  and  that 
he  could  take  Mosby  and  his  men  into  their 
camp,  and  capture  the  whole  concern  without 
the  firing  of  a  shot. 

As  StringfeHow  was  the  originator  of  this 
brilliant  and  unfortunate  foray,  I  will  here 
give  my  readers,  by  way  of  parenthesis,  an 
idea  of  who  he  is  and  how  he  happened  up 
there.  Captain  StringfeHow  hud  entered  (he 
Confederate  army  at  the  very  beginning  of 
the  war,  and  had  distinguished  himself  on 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  15  i 

numerous  battle-fields.  Those  actions  had 
not  passed  unobserved  by  that  great  cavalier, 
General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart.  Stringfellow's 
thorough  knowledge  of  all  that  country 
stretching  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains 
down  to  the  Federal  Capital,  embracing  the 
counties  of  London,  Fauquier,  Prince  Wil 
liam,  Fairfax,  Culpepper,  Orange,  &c.,  and 
his  bravery  and  dashing  behavior  on  the 
battle-field,  as  well  as  the  perilous  journeys  he 
had  performed  for  his  superiors,  justly  recom 
mended  him  to  Stuart  for  promotion.  Stuart 
accordingly  appointed  him  captain  of  his 
scouts,  and  gave  him  ten  men  to  operate 
with.  As  he  was  not  regularly  attached  to 
the  Forty-third,  little  is  known  of  his  general 
operations.  Yet  I  cannot  restrain  myself 
from  mentioning  several  deeds  of  daring  per 
formed  by  him,  which  were  unparalleled  in 
the  history  of  warfare. 

While  the  Federal  army  was  encamped  at 
Culpepper  Court  House  and  Brandy  Station, 
on  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  ,  Railroad, 
General  Sedgwick,  commanding  the  Sixth 
Army  Corps,  established  his  headquarters  at 
the  Wellford  House,  about  two  miles  from 
Brandy  Station.  Stringfcllow  had  been  dis- 


152  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

patched  by  General  Stuart,  to  obtain  some 
valuable  information  from  the  enemy.  The 
vigilance  of  the  enemy's  pickets  prevented 
him  from  accomplishing  his  purpose  by  those 
means  which  heretofore  had  carried  him 
through  successfully  ;  and,  as  a  last  resort,  he 
adopted  the  plan  of  entering  the  enemy's 
camp  in  disguise.  Providing  himself  with 
a  Yankee  colonel's  outfit,  and  putting  on  a 
bold  face,  in  the  broad  blaze  of  day  he  rode 
up  to  the  enemy's  camp.  He  was  saluted  by 
the  pickets,  and  rode  up  to  General  Sedg- 
wick's  headquarters.  The  General,  with  his 
staff  and  one  or  two  guests,  was  at  dinner. 
Nothing  wrong  being  suspected,  he  was  in 
vited  to  dismount  and  share  their  dinner  with 
them.  Stringfellow,  having  lived  so  much  in 
the  enemy's  lines,  had  made  himself  familiar 
with  all  the  enemy's  camps,  the  names  of  the 
regiments,  their  officers,  and  the  position  of 
the  troops.  Representing  himself  as  colonel 
of  a  regiment  at  the  extreme  end  of  their 
lines,  and  satisfying  the  officers  that  he  was 
all  right,  Stringfellow  was  invited  into  the 
tent,  to  be  one  of  the  dinner-party.  A  gen 
eral  conversation  ensued,  in  which  he  so 
completely  gained  the  confidence  of  all 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  153 

around  the  table,  that  he  not  only  found  out 
what  he  was  sent  to  discover,  but  more  too, 
including  the  strength  of  the  whole  army, 
their  position,  and  intentions.  Having  accom 
plished  the  object  of  his  visit,  he  remounted 
his  horse,  rode  through  their  pickets,  and 
reported  to  Stuart  what  he  had  done. 

On  another  occasion,  when  on  a  scouting 
expedition  in  the  neighborhood  of  Warren- 
ton,  dressed  in  a  Yankee  overcoat,  five  Yan 
kees  overtook  him  on  the  road.  They 
questioned  him  critically  in  regard  to  the 
command  he  belonged  to,  and  being  satisfied 
with  his  representations,  they  passed  on. 
When  they  were  some  fifteen  steps  ahead  of 
him,  he  drew  his  two  pistols  and  fired  away 
at  them.  As  he  was  a  splendid  shot,  at  the 
first  fire  two  bit  the  dust ;  at  the  second  fire  a 
third  one  fell,  and  the  other  two  fled  for  their 
lives,  without  exchanging  a  shot. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


PLAY  AT  ALEXANDRIA,  ENTITLED,  "THE  GUERILLA  "  —  MEETING  AT 
UPPERVILLE  —  EXPEDITION  —  PLAN  OF  CAPTURE  —  FAILURE  OK 
PLAN  —  LOSS  OF  SMITH,  TURNER,  PAXON,  COLSTON,  ETC. 


IN  the  spring  of  1864,  there  was  a  play 
introduced  and  performed  in  the  theatre 
at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  entitled  "  The  Guer 
illa  ;  or,  Mosby  in  Five  Hundred  Sutler- 
wagons."  The  play  of  course  excited  a  great 
deal  of  attention  amongst  us,  including  Mosby 
himself.  Flaming  bills  were  posted  all  over 
the  city,  and  a  programme  was  sent  to  Mosby. 
The  strongest  desire  to  witness  the  perform 
ance,  and  obtain  copies  of  the  drama,  was 
manifested  by  Mosby  and  the  men.  Private 
expeditions  to  Alexandria  were  proposed,  but 
obstacles  beyond  our  control  prevented  the 
execution  of  them.  One  day,  at  Joe  Black- 
well's,  Mosby,  in  the  presence  of  Stringfellow 
and  others,  expressed  a  desire  to  have  a  copy 

(154) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  155 

of  the  play,  and  also  a  determination  to  go  to 
Alexandria  and  see  it  played.  Stringfellow 
waited  until  Mosby  was  through  ;  then  jump 
ing  up  suddenly,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and 
without  telling  any  one  his  intentions,  started 
off  alone  for  Alexandria.  Riding  rapidly,  he 
entered  the  city  before  day  the  next  morning, 
and,  stopping  at  a  trusty  friend's,  spent  the 
remainder  of  the  day  in  "  sight-seeing  "  and 
conversing  with  the  soldiers.  Going  to  a 
book-store,  he  procured  several  copies  of  the 
play,  and  awaited  patiently  the  approach  of 
night  to  see  it  played.  The  play  had  a  great 
run.  The  house  was  crowded,  and  he  found 
difficulty  in  getting  a  seat.  At  twelve  o'clock 
that  night,  he  was  again  in  his  saddle  ;  and 
next  evening,  at  three  o'clock,  was  back 
again  in  Fauquier,  at  Mosby's  headquarters, 
with  copies  of  the  play.  The  rapidity  of  his 
movements,  as  well  as  his  daring  conduct, 
completely  surprised  the  great  partisan,  and 
ever  after  that  expedition,  Stringfellow  en 
joyed  Mosby's  fullest  confidence  and  highest 
esteem. 

But  I  am  digressing  too  much.  Mosby,  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  7th,  reflected  on  String- 
fellow's  proposition,  and  thinking  it  prac- 


156  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

ticable,  ordered  a  meeting  of  the  whole 
command  at  Upperville  the  next  day  at 
twelve  o'clock.  The  men  were  reluctant  to 
leave  their  comfortable  log  fires.  The  mer 
cury  ranged  at  zero,  at  breakfast  that  morn 
ing  ;  and  the  snow  was  one  foot  deep  on  the 
ground,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  another  fall 
of  snow  during  the,  day.  Only  one  hundred 
men  reported  for  duty.  At  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  orders  were  given  for  us  to 
mount  and  fall  into  line  of  march.  We 
moved  off  from  Upperville,  taking  the  road 
to  Union,  and  reached  Woodgrove,  in  London 
County,  at  eight  o'clock  P.M.,  where  Mosby 
was  joined  by  Stringfellow  with  nine  men, 
making  in  all,  including  officers,  one  hundred 
and  ten  effective  men.  After  resting  there 
some  two  hours,  for  the  purpose  of  thor 
oughly  warming  ourselves,  as  well  as  to  avoid 
being  seen  by  the  Union  citizens  in  that  part 
of  the  county,  at  ten  o'clock  we  resumed  our 
march,  taking  the  high  road  direct  to  Har 
per's  Ferry,  alternately  riding  and  walking, 
to  keep  our  feet  and  hands,  as  well  as  bodies, 
warm.  While  riding,  we  would  put  the 
reins  in  our  mouths,  and  our  hands  under  the 
saddle-blankets,  next  to  the  horses'  skins,  to 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  157 

keep  from  being  frozen.  This  road  we  fol 
lowed  until  within  three  or  four  miles  of  the 
enemy's  pickets,  which  were  posted  about  one 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  camp,  at  a  small 
bridge  over  a  mountain  stream.  Leaving  the 
highway  to  our  left,  we  took  a  by-path  which 
led  us  into  the  mountains,  and  followed  that 
in  single  file  until  we  reached  the  Potomac 
River,  across  which  could  be  distinctly  seen 
the  infantry  camp-fires,  and  the  sentry  on  his 
beat.  Turning  short  to  the  left,  we  passed 
through  a  dense  pine  thicket,  about  two  hun 
dred  yards,  when  we  reached  the  bridge 
across  the  Shenandoah  River.  On  the  left 
of  the  road,  at  the  top  of  a  steep  hill,  and 
some  twenty  yards  from  the  bridge,  stood  a 
two-story  frame  building,  in  which  were  the 
quarters  of  Colonel  Cole  and  other  officers. 
Farther  up  the  road,  about  twenty  yards  on 
the  right,  under  the  mountain,  were  quietly 
reposing  the  objects  of  our  pursuit.  To 
reach  this  camp,  as  we  emerged  from  the 
thicket,  we  had  to  ascend  a  steep  hill  about 
twenty  feet  high,  on  which  the  snow  had 
been  trodden  until  it  was  as  hard  and  slick  as 
ice.  The  ascent  of  this  hill  was  very  danger 
ous,  and  was  made  in  single  file.  Yet  we 

14 


158  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

ascended  it  without  accident,  and  were  in  the 
camp.  We  could  touch  the  tents  with  our 
pistols.  Mosby,  with  one  hundred  and  ten 
men,  stood  there  in  almost  the  very  centre  of 
the  strongest  fortified  post  of  the  North  on 
that  line  of  defences.  I  could  scarcely  real 
ize  it.  Everything  so  far  seemed  to  promise 
success  to  the  enterprise,  and  render  it  the 
most  brilliant  affair  of  the  war.  Not  a  cloud 
could  be  seen.  The  moon  seemed  to  shine 
with  her  silvery  light  brighter  than  ever 
before.  The  air  was  still  and  piercing  cold ; 
not  even  the  trampling  of  the  horses'  feet 
could  be  heard.  Mosby  was  the  first  to 
enter  the  camp.  He  was  followed  by  String- 
fellow  and  his  men,  whom  he  had  dispatched 
to  the  house  to  secure  Cole  and  the  other 
officers  before  he  would  take  the  camp, 
which  was  to  be  done  without  firing  a  shot. 
While  Stringfellow  was  proceeding  to  execute 
his  part,  Mosby  ordered  Smith  to  ride  back 
and  hurry  up  the  men,  as  it  was  of  the 
highest  importance  he  should  make  all  pris 
oners  before  any  alarm  could  be  given. 
Montjoy  was  sent  down  the  road,  about  one 
quarter  of  a  mile,  with  six  men,  to  secure  the 
picket.  He  and  Smith,  with  the  rest  of  the 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  159 

men,    were   to    enter   the    tents,    and    make 
prisoners  of  every  one  in  them. 

But,  alas !  by  some  almost  unaccountable 
means  the  plan  failed  in  an  instant,  from  one 
or  the  other  of  the  following  causes :  in  front 
of  this  house  where  the  officers  were  sleep 
ing,  there  was  a  stable  which  was  supposed 
to  contain  the  officers'  horses,  and  around 
were  several  army  wagons  with  mules  tied, 
to  them.  Some  few  of  the  men  left  the 
ranks  to  secure  the  mules ;  and  it  was  sup 
posed  by  many  of  us  that  they  spoke  rather 
loud,  and  that  the  officers  were  aroused,  and 
a  shot  was  fired  from  the  house ;  or  by 
Stringfellow's  men  leaving  him  after  he  got 
into  the  house,  and  crossing  the  road,  ascend 
ing  the  mountain  and  charging  into  the  camp 
in  the  rear,  yelling  and  firing.  At  the  first 
shot  from  them,  Mosby,  thinking  they  were 
the  enemy  (for  he  had  ordered  that  no  men 
should  enter  the  camp,  and  particularly  in 
that  manner,  from  that  quarter),  ordered  the 
charge.  Not  more  than  thirty  of  us  rode  up 
to  the  tents,  which  we  completely  riddled  by 
the  bullets  from  our  pistols.  The  enemy 
soon  cried  out,  "  The  camp  is  yours !  We 
surrender  !  Stop  firing ! "  The  firing  ceased. 


160  MOSSY  AND  SIS  MEN. 

Stringfellow's  men  charging  into  us,  produced 
some  confusion  in  our  ranks,  and  most  of  the 
men  would  not  come  into  the  camp,  notwith 
standing  Mosby's  orders  to  "  come  in  and  secure 
the  horses."     The  firing  alarmed  the  picket  at 
the  bridge  before  Montjoy  could  reach  them, 
and  they  fled  to   the  mountains.     The  Yan 
kees  coming  out  of  their  tents,  and  seeing  so 
few  to  surrender  to,  retreated  to  some  bushes 
a  short  distance  up  the  mountain,  in  the  rear 
of  their  camp,  and  poured  a  most  murderous 
fire  into  our  little  squad.     Some  fifty  of  our 
men  were  out  in  the  road  with  sixty  horses 
when  the  enemy  rallied,  and  they  would  not 
come  back.     The  position  to  which  the  enemy 
retreated  being  so  strong,  and  our  boys  hav 
ing  fired  all   the  loads  out  of   their  pistols, 
Mosby  determined  to  retire.     Our  situation  at 
this  moment  was  indeed  critical.     The  signal- 
gun   at  the   Ferry   had   been  fired,   and    the 
whole  garrison  was  under  arms,  and  ready  to 
march    at    a   moment's    notice.       Lieutenant 
Thomas    Turner,    commanding  Company    A, 
had  fallen  at  the  first  fire,  mortally  wounded, 
and  was  carried  off  the  field.     Captain  Rob 
inson,  a  Scotchman,  and  captain  in  the  Eng 
lish  army,  had  been  killed  by  our  own  men 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  161 

through  mistake.  Lieutenant  Colston,  of 
General  Trimble's  staff,  had  fallen  while  try 
ing  to  rally  the  men.  Two  other  brave 
spirits  had  likewise  given  up  their  lives  in 
defence  of  Southern  independence  ;  and  the 
gallant  Charlie  Faxon  was  lying  at  the  en 
trance  of  a  tent,  mortally  wounded. 

Fearing  reinforcements  would  arrive  for 
the  enemy  before  we  could  get  out,  Captain 
Smith,  the  last  man  to  leave,  was  passing  the 
tent  where  Paxon  was  lying,  was  recognized, 
and  asked  "  for  God's  sake  not  to  leave  him." 
The  appeal  to  the  generous  Smith  could  not 
be  resisted.  Suddenly  whirling  his  horse 
around,  and  reaching  down  to  place  the  dying 
youth  in  front  of  him,  to  bring  him  off,  a 
Yankee  in  the  tent  shot  him  through  the 
heart,  and  he  fell  lifeless  to  the  earth,  saying 
not  a  word.  The  heroic  William  Chapman 
came  to  his  assistance  in  a  moment  ;  but  the 
life  of  him  whom  the  enemy  dreaded  equally 
as  much  as  Mosby  had  fled.  The  enemy 
were  advancing  at  the  double  quick,  and 
Chapman  was  compelled  to  fly  and  rejoin  the 
command.  Although  day  was  near  dawning, 
and  the  whole  garrison  alive,  the  retreat  was 
conducted  in  the  most  orderly  manner,  —  not 

14* 


162  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

out  of  a  slow  walk.  And,  had  we  been  pur 
sued  beyond  the  camp,  I  believe  every  man 
would  have  stood  up  like  a  Stonewall  against 
the  enemy,  and  revenged  the  death  of  the 
noble  and  brave  spirits  who  had  fallen  that 
morning.  The  attack  was  at  five  o'clock,  and 
in  the  fall  of  Smith  and  Turner,  Mosby  lost  his 
ablest  and  most  promising  officers.  The  terror 
of  Smith  to  the  enemy,  and  the  boldness  of  his 
forays,  were  not  second  to  Mosby's ;  and 
Mosby's  appreciation  of  his  services  as  an 
auxiliary  and  an  officer,  and  the  grief  he 
felt  when  told  of  his  death,  could  not  be 
better  evidenced  than  by  his  crying  like  a 
child,  and  declining  to  do  anything  for  a 
month.  The  sorrow  he  manifested  at  the  loss 
of  such  a  man  was  shared  by  the  men  and 
other  officers. 

William  R.  Smith  was  no  ordinary  man. 
Himself  and  his  brothers  before  him,  who 
had  given  up  their  lives  in  the  cause  of 
Southern  independence,  had  repeatedly  re 
ceived  compliments  from  Generals  Lee, 
Ewell,  and  Stuart,  for  their  bravery  and 
daring  deeds.  William  R.  Smith  was  a  lieu 
tenant  in  the  famous  Black  Horse  Cavalry ; 
and,  when  Mosby  was  detailed  from  the 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  163 

regular  array  to  do  this  service,  he  requested 
General  Stuart  to  let  him  take  Smith  with 
him.  Smith  was  a  son  of  Black  well  Smith, 
farmer,  and  one  of  the  oldest,  most  respect 
able,  and  influential  citizens  in  Fauquier 
County.  He  was  brave  and  generous  to  a 
fault ;  his  men  idolized  him  ;  his  conversa 
tion  was  of  that  frank  and  generous  nature 
which  captivated  every  one  who  met  him. 

Lieutenant  Thomas  Turner  was  a  native 
of  Prince  George  County,  Maryland,  and  a 
resident  of  Washington  City  at  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Rebellion.  He  was  among  the  first 
from  that  noble  old  State  to  volunteer  in  the 
Southern  cause,  and  was  a  first  lieutenant  in 
the  First  Regiment  of  Virginia  Cavalry,  of 
which  Mosby  was  Adjutant.  He  was  brave 
and  courageous,  and  was  known  amongst  the 
men  as  "  Fighting  Tom."  Those  qualities  so 
essential  for  a  partisan  ranger,  combined  with 
coolness,  recommended  him  to  Mosby,  who 
had  him  likewise  transferred,  and  made  him 
his  first  lieutenant.  Being  unable  to  remain 
on  the  field,  Gragan  and  Whaley  carried  him 
to  a  Mr.  Waters'  house,  about  one  mile  from 
Harper's  Ferry,  where  he  lingered  five  days, 
receiving  every  attention  our  Southern  friends 


164  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

in  the  neighborhood  were  permitted  to  show 
him.  He  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  at 
Hillsboro',  a  beautiful  little  village,  some  ten 
miles  from  Harper's  Ferry.  As  soon  as  day 
broke,  Mosby  sent  back  a  flag  of  truce,  under 
William  H.  Chapman  and  R.  P.  Montjoy, 
to  get  Smith's  body.  Reaching  the  pickets, 
and  making  known  their  mission,  Colonel 
Cole  declined  to  give  them  the  body ;  but  told 
Chapman  any  "  citizen  or  member  of  his 
family  could  get  it."  A  day  or  two  after  this, 
Captain  Smith's  wife,  father,  and  mother 
went  after  it.  On  their  arrival  at  Colonel 
Cole's  headquarters,  an  order  was  received 
from  General  Mulligan,  the  commander  of  the 
post,  to  arrest  them  ;  and  they  remained  under 
arrest  forty-eight  hours.  General  Mulligan 
declined  to  see  them,  or  even  hold  any  com 
munication  with  them.  Finally  an  interview 
was  obtained  with  one  of  the  adjutants  of 
the  post;  and,  before  he  would  consent  to  give 
her  her  husband's  body,  Mrs.  Smith  was  com 
pelled  to  go  down  on  her  knees. 

The  enemy,  in  the  meanwhile,  had  robbed 
Captain  Smith  of  his  money,  watch,  papers, 
£c.;  and  had  absolutely  taken  every  vestige 
of  clothing  from  his  body,  except  his  draw- 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  165 

ers.  Colston,  Robinson,  Paxon,  and  the  two 
others  were  served  in  the  same  way,  and 
all  of  them  buried  in  a  sink ;  and  before  Mrs. 
Smith  could  see  the  body  of  her  husband,  it 
had  to  be  carried  to  the  river  and  washed. 
Not  only  did  the  commandant  of  the  post 
arrest  Mrs.  Smith's  father  and  mother ;  but  he 
threatened  to  place  under  arrest  Colonel  Cole 
and  all  his  officers,  for  not  sending  Captain 
Chapman  and  Montjoy,  under  arrest,  to  his 
headquarters.  General  Mulligan,  however, 
never  carried  his  threat  into  execution.  We 
brought  off  the  field  sixty  fine  horses,  which 
the  enemy  had  just  drawn  from  the  Quarter 
master,  and  six  prisoners,  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  loss  of  the  brave  officers  and  men,  it 
would  have  been  the  most  daring  and  brilliant 
affair  of  the  war.  It  was  a  great  success, 
anyhow  :  yet  Colonel  Cole  telegraphs  to 
Washington,  "  lie  was  attacked  that  morning ', 
before  daylight,  by  General  Mosby,  Colonel 
White,  and  part  of  Rossers  Brigade  ;  and,  after 
an  hours  desperate  fighting,  the  enemy  were 
driven  back,  and  routed  with  heavy  loss  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners."  The  fight  did  not 
last  fifteen  minutes.  We  lost  only  one  pris 
oner,  Lena  Brown  ;  and  he  was  taken  the  next 


166  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

morning   bringing   out   two    horses   and   one 
prisoner. 

The  loss  of  Smith,  Turner,  Paxon,  Colston, 
and  the  others,  was  a  severe  blow  to  Mosby, 
and  cast  a  gloom  over  the  whole  county, 
when  it  was  known.  The  spirits  of  the  men 
were  in  a  measure  broken;  and  although 
Smith  and  Turner  were  succeeded  by  able 
and  brave  officers,  yet  it  was  a  long  time 
before  they  enjoyed  the  same  esteem  and  con 
fidence  that  were  given  to  Smith  and  Turner. 
Charlie  Paxon  was  one  of  the  most  promising 
young  men  in  the  battalion,  and,  had  he  lived, 
would  have  distinguished  himself. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 


DESPONDENCY  OF  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN  AFTER  THE  HARPER'S  FERRY 
DISASTER  —CAPTURE  OF  A  SUTLER'S  WAGON,  AND  A  CORRESPOND 
ENT  OF  THE  "NEW  YORK  TRIBUNE  "  — CAPTURE  OF  A  PICKET  BY 
MONTJOY—  ORDER  OF  GENERAL  PLEASANTON. 


MOSBY  had  been  in  the  habit,  before  this 
Harper's  Ferry  disaster,  of  attacking 
the  enemy's  camps  in  the  night-time  ;  but, 
ever  after  this,  he  could  not  be  induced  to  en 
tertain  such  a  proposition,  except  under  pecu 
liar  circumstances.  This  resolution  was  not 
arrived  at  so  much  from  fear  of  the  enemy's 
inflicting  injury  on  him,  as  from  the  danger 
of  his  own  men's  firing  into  one  another.  In 
this  case  it  was  conceded,  by  all  the  men,  that 
three  out  of  the  five  killed  were  killed  by 
our  own  men.  So  great  was  the  despondency 
of  the  men,  at  the  result  of  this  affair,  that 
nothing  was  done  for  some  time.  Their 
attachment  for  Smith  and  Turner  was  so 
great  that  their  loss  rendered  the  men  unfit 

(167) 


168  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

for  duty.  Mosby  himself  did  not  take  the 
saddle  again  until  February.  Smith  was  his 
right-hand  man  ;  and  so  great  was  Mosby's 
confidence  in  him,  that  he  would  allow  Smith 
to  take  on  a  raid  any  part  or  all  of  the  com 
mand  when  he  felt  so  inclined.  Socially, 
Smith  was  as  genial  as  a  May  day  ;  a  strict 
disciplinarian,  who  would  allow  none  of  his 
men  to  shirk  duty. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January,  1864,  K.  P. 
Montjoy  took  fifteen  men  on  an  expedition  to 
capture  the  United  States  mail,  between  War- 
renton  and  the  Junction  on  the  Orange  and 
Alexandria  Railroad,  the  mail  guarded  by 
only  twenty  cavalry.  It  was  a  bold  under 
taking,  and  no  man  was  better  qualified  to 
undertake  it  than  Montjoy.  All  his  men 
wore  the  regular  blue  army  overcoats  to 
deceive  the  enemy.  Montjoy  reached  the 
point  at  which  he  was  to  make  the  attack, 
about  midway  between  the  two  places,  one 
hour  too  late,  the  mail  and  escort  having 
passed  by.  Concealing  his  men  in  the  woods, 
and  throwing  out  along  the  road  pickets  to 
see  if  anything  would  turn  up,  he  remained 
in  that  position  a  short  time,  when  a  sutler- 
wagon  and  correspondent  of  the  "  New  York 


SAM    ALEXANDER. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 


Tribune  "  came  joggling  along.  They  were 
gobbled  up  in  a  little  while.  The  wagon  was 
loaded  with  stationery  and  notions.  Our 
men,  after  taking  what  they  wanted,  left  the 
wagon  with  the  remainder  of  its  contents  in 
the  road.  The  sutler  parted  with  greenbacks 
&c.  very  reluctantly  ;  while  the  correspondent 
took  it  very  coolly,  one  of  the  men  exchang 
ing  a  Confederate  hat  (little  worn)  and  home 
spun  woollen  gloves  for  his  elegant  fur  cap 
and  mink-skin  gloves.  As  he  was  just  from 
New  York,  he  was  pretty  flush  with  green 
backs,  which  he  was  advised  to  exchange  for 
Confederate  notes,  as  he  was  going  to  Rich 
mond,  and  these  notes  were  the  only  currency 
permitted  by  law  in  that  city,  a  heavy  penalty 
being  attached  to  the  passing  of  greenbacks. 
This  arrangement  he  readily  agreed  to  ;  and 
he  and  his  companion,  the  sutler,  were  started 
back  to  Fauquier  under  guard  of  one  man. 

Leaving  that  point,  it  being  considered  not 
safe  to  remain  there  any  longer,  Montjoy 
proceeded  in  the  direction  of  a  large  cavalry 
camp.  When  near  it  he  saw  a  sergeant  post 
ing  a  picket  of  ten  men,  some  three  hundred 
yards  from  the  camp.  He  at  once  concluded 
to  take  it.  The  picket  was  in  full  view  of  the 


170  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

camp.     Montjoy  with   his    men    approached 
the  post,  and  was    ordered  to  halt.     "  What 
command    do    you    belong    to  1 "     cried    the 
picket.      "  The   First    Maine    Cavalry,"    re 
sponded  Montjoy.     "  All  right,"  replied  the 
unsuspecting  Yankee.     The  party  rode  up  to 
the  post,  dividing  and  passing  on  either  side, 
thus    surrounding    them.      After    some    few 
inquiries  by  Montjoy,  at  a  signal,  every  one 
of  the  picket  had  a  pistol  at  his  head,  with 
orders  to  get  on  his  horse  and  follow,  which 
they  did  without   hesitation.      The   sergeant 
highly  complimented  Montjoy  for  his  daring 
and     adroitness.       The    affair    having    been 
observed   in    camp,  Montjoy  was    obliged  to 
retreat  precipitately  with  four  hundred  Fed 
eral  cavalry  after  him.    He,  however,  escaped 
with  all  his  capture  except  the  sergeant  and 
two    privates.      The   horses    captured    were 
retained  in  Fauquier  County ;  and  the  prison 
ers,  ten  in  number,  were  sent  to  Richmond, 
where  accommodations  were  provided  at  Hotel 
de  Libby. 

The  boldness  and  audacity  of  Montjoy  in 
this  affair  provoked  the  enemy  beyond  bounds, 
and  the  only  satisfaction  they  could  find  was 
the  promulgation  of  that  famous  order  of 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  171 

General  Pleasanton,  wherein  he  ordered, 
"  that  in  consequence  of  so  many  pickets, 
patrols,  £c.,  being  captured  by  parties  dressed 
in  the  Federal  uniform,  his  pickets  were  here 
by  ordered  to  shoot  or  hang  every  Rebel 
soldier  caught  dressed  thus."  This  was  a 
very  sensible  order,  —  catching  before  hang 
ing.  It  was  not  the  first  order  of  the  kind 
ever  issued  by  the  Federal  Generals.  And 
General  Pleasanton  knew,  at  the  time  he 
issued  it,  that  his  men  would  not,  and  in  fact 
were  afraid  to  execute  it ;  for  they  knew  full 
well  there  was  such  a  law  as  retaliation,  and 
that  Mosby  was  the  man  to  apply  it  without 
consulting  the  authorities  at  Richmond. 
Besides,  they  knew  it  would  be  rather  an 
expensive  luxury  with  them,  as  where  they 
caught  one  of  our  men,  we  caught  twenty 
of  theirs ;  and,  if  they  hung  one  of  ours, 
twenty  of  theirs  would  pay  the  penalty  for  it. 
The  order,  however,  had  the  effect  of  induc 
ing  a  large  number  of  the  men  to  dye  their 
overcoats  black. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


JOHN  CORNWALL'S  RKVENGE  —  TWENTY-FIVE  OK  OUR  MEN  CAPTURED 
—  CAPTAIN  CHAPMAN'S  ATTEMPT  TO  RESCUE  THEM  — THE  ENEMY 
TAKE  HORSES,  CHICKENS,  ETC.  — MOSBY'S  MEN  SLEEP  IN  CAVES, 
ETC. 


Tj^EBRUARY  arrived.  Mosby  made  a  flying 
J-  visit  to  his  family,  which  was  staying  then 
at  Charlottesville,  and  also  to  Richmond.  On 
the  night  of  the  5th  he  entered  Warren  ton 
alone,  and  obtained  valuable  information  re 
specting  the  enemy's  strength  and  plans  for 
the  next  campaign,  which  he  took  to  Rich 
mond,  and  laid  before  the  Secretary  of  War. 
Mosby  returned  to  his  headquarters  next 
morning ;  and  on  the  6th  of  the  month,  with 
John  Munson  and  Ben  Palmer,  started  for  our 
lines. 

During  Mosby's  absence,  the  men  were  not 
idle,  but  continued  to  annoy  the  enemy.  The 
winter  had  broken,  and  the  weather  was 
never  better  adapted  for  carrying  on  such 

(172) 


MOSDT  AND  HIS  MEN.  173 

enterprises.  Captain  William  H.  Chapman, 
of  Company  C,  assumed  command  of  the 
battalion  during  Mosby's  absence.  He  took 
twenty  into  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  crossing 
the  Shenandoah  Kiver  at  Berry  Ferry,  and 
captured  a  patrolling  party  of  thirty  cavalry, 
near  the  White  Post,  and  returned  with 
thirty  prisoners  and  horses,  without  loss  or 
injury. 

The  18th  of  this  month  will  be  remem 
bered  by  the  people  of  Fauquier,  or  rather  of 
"  Mosby's  Confederacy,"  for  all  time.  A 
trifling  white  man,  by  the  name  of  John 
Cornwall,  had  been  dodging,  for  twelve 
months,  the  enrolling  officers,  to  keep  out 
of  the  service,  and  had  been  employed  by 
Captain  Walter  Frankland,  our  quartermas 
ter,  to  make  one  trip  to  Charlottesville,  with 
an  ambulance,  to  bring  back  a  load  of  ammu 
nition.  On  his  return,  he  presented  a  bill 
of  expenses,  a  portion  of  which  Frankland 
disallowed.  Cornwall  appealed  to  Mosby, 
who  sustained  Frankland.  Leaving  head 
quarters,  he  swore  vengeance  against  "Mosby, 
Frankland,  and  the  whole  command.  On 
the  17th  he  went  to  the  enemy  at  Warrenton, 
and  had  no  difficulty  in  entering  their  lines  ; 

15* 


174  MOSBY  AND  II1S  MEN 

for  it  was  established  as  a  fact,  after  he  left, 
that  he  had  been  going  backwards  and  for 
wards  for  some  time,  carrying  information  to 
the  enemy,  and  stealing  all  the  fine  horses  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  selling  them  to  the 
enemy.  Going  to  headquarters,  he  stated  his 
grievances,  and  offered  to  capture  Mosby  and 
his  whole  command  if  they  would  give  him 
five  hundred  men.  The  enemy,  considering 
his  plans  practicable,  complied  with  his  re 
quest  ;  and  the  night  of  the  18th  was  selected 
for  the  purpose.  The  residents  of  Fauquier, 
and  the  enemy  themselves  who  participated 
in  that  affair,  will  remember  it  as  the  cpldest 
night  of  that  severe  winter.  The  column 
started  from  Warrenton  on  the  17th,  at  nine 
o'clock  P.M.,  and  reached  Salem  at  one  o'clock 
A.M.  At  this  place  they  commenced,  and 
searched  every  house  up  to  the  Blue  Ridge 
Mountains,  along  and  under  them  to  Middle- 
burg,  embracing  an  area  of  about  fifteen 
square  miles.  At  llectortown  they  divided, 
one  half — two  hundred  and  fifty  —  going  by 
Middleburg  and  Upperville,  where  both  re 
united  at  sunrise  ;  the  other  column  taking  in 
its  march,  Piedmont,  Oak  Hill,  Markham,  and 
Paris,  at  the  foot  of  Ashby's  Gap,  thence  to 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  175 

Upperville.  One  squad  of  fifty  even  pen 
etrated  the  mountains,  and  visited  Slice 
Barbour's,  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  spurs  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  where  Cornwall  behaved 
most  disgracefully.  Learning  that  Mosby 
was  absent,  the  enemy  thought  they  had  a 
sure  thing  of  it,  and  that,  on  the  return  of 
the  great  partisan,  he  would  find  himself 
minus  his  command ;  and  their  scheme  came 
very  near  proving  successful.  But  the  Fates 
were  against  them,  and  a  beneficent  Provi 
dence  had  decreed  otherwise. 

Two  things  conspired  in  our  favor,  —  the 
darkness  of  the  night  and  the  cold.  Al 
though  their  visit  was  unexpected,  and  a 
perfect  surprise,  as  we  had  not  thrown  out 
pickets,  they  did  not  capture  more  than 
twenty-five  of  our  men.  You  see  we  boarded 
and  slept  at  the  farmers'  houses ;  and  the 
enemy  thought  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  ride 
up,  surround  the  houses,  go  in,  and  take  us 
out  of  bed.  But  the  weather  being  so  bitter 
cold,  and  they  nearly  frozen,  the  enemy  could 
not  act  with  much  celerity.  At  the  house  of 
Mr.  Jamison  Ashby,  uncle  of  the  lamented 
Turner  Ashby,  where  Captain  Frankland 
lodged,  one  hundred  and  fifty  surrounded  the 


176  MOSBT  AND  EIS  MEN. 

house,  and  Cornwall  himself  superintended 
the  search.  He  said  lie  was  bound  to  have 
Frankland.  The  room  was  entered ;  but  the 
bed  was  empty,  yet  warm.  The  cage  had 
been  opened,  and  the  bird  had  flown,  but  not 
out  of  the  house.  The  building  was  searched 
thoroughly  three  times  ;  but  Frankland  could 
not  be  found.  The  little  negroes  were  ques 
tioned,  and  threatened  with  instant  death  if 
they  did  not  tell  where  Frankland,  Henry 
Ashby,  and  Hamner  were.  All  they  could 
get  out  of  the  servants  and  little  darkeys 
was,  they  did  not  know  anything  about 
them.  The  party  ^never  executed  their 
threats,  but  went  off  disappointed,  saying 
they  would  come  back ;  but  they  did  not  do 
so  that  morning.  While  one  set  were  search 
ing  the  house,  there  was  another  in  the 
stables  and  fields,  getting  the  horses  and 
mules  of  Mr.  Ashby  and  his  boarders.  Not 
content  with  all  the  horses  on  the  place,  they 
stole  every  turkey,  chicken,  duck,  and  goose 
on  the  plantation.  I  will  here  state,  for  the 
information  of  my  readers,  that  Captain 
Frankland  could  see  and  hear  all  that  was 
going  on  in  the  house.  When  the  enemy 
approached  Ben  Triplett's,  where  Lieutenant 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  177 

Albert  Wren  and  Jim  Wren  boarded,  the 
men  jumped  out  of  the  second-story  window 
in  their  night-clothes,  and  fled  across  the 
fields,  pursued  by  the  enemy,  and  sought 
refuge  in  a  straw-rick,  under  the  mountain, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  "  Crooked  Run." 
The  enemy  ceased  their  pursuit  at  the  Run. 
In  this  rick  the  two  remained  for  three  hours, 
and  at  daylight  were  found  nearly  frozen ; 
but,  by  proper  remedies,  they  were  soon  re 
stored,  and  enabled  to  participate  with  the 
heroic  Chapman  in  his  efforts  to  recapture 
our  boys  that  day.  Others  made  equally 
narrow  escapes,  and  suffered  from  the  cold  as 
severely. 

At  Mr.  Gibson's,  Sergeant  Corbin,  when 
the  enemy  declared  that  if  he,  Walston,  and 
the  three  Gibsons  did  not  come  out  and  give 
themselves  up,  the  house  would  be  burnt, 
came  out  and  surrendered,  to  save  the  others. 
While  all  this  was  going  on,  the  brave  Wil 
liam  H.  Chapman  was  collecting  together 
what  men  he  could.  He  succeeded  in  getting 
thirty,  and  attacked  the  enemy  about  one 
mile  from  Paris,  on  Mrs.  Betsy  Edmond's 
farm.  The  enemy  retreated  to  a  field  in 
front  of  her  house,  and  drew  up  in  line  of 


178  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

battle  behind  a  stone  fence.  Not  wishing  to 
sacrifice  his  men  by  attacking  them  in  that 
position,  Chapman  retired  a  short  distance  to 
watch  their  movements.  In  a  short  time  the 
enemy  received  reinforcements  from  Paris, 
when  they  all  retreated  to  that  place,  and 
remained  until  three  o'clock  P.M.,  when  they 
started  back  to  Warrenton.  About  noon  Mos- 
by  returned  from  Richmond;  and,  hearing  of 
the  calamity  Cornwall  had  brought  upon  him, 
determined,  if  possible,  to  rescue  his  men, 
and  capture  Cornwall.  Collecting  every  man 
he  possibly  could,  he  tried  to  divide  the 
enemy  so  as  to  attack  him  in  detail ;  which, 
if  he  had  succeeded  in  doing,  he  would  have 
not  only  got  his  own  men  back,  but  a  large 
number  of  the  enemy.  The  enemy,  however, 
kept  well  closed  up  on  their  return ;  and 
there  was  no  possible  chance  of  cutting  any 
of  them  off.  Then,  as  a  last  resort  for  the 
recapture  of  his  men,  he  determined  to 
attack  the  enemy  near  Warrenton.  Taking 
a  private  road,  he  expected  to  reach  the 
point  at  which  he  intended  to  make  the 
attack  some  time  before  the  enemy,  and  to 
stretch  a  large  piece  of  telegraph  wire  across 
the  road,  and,  when  they  approached  it,  to 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  179 

charge  them  in  the  rear,  and  run  them 
against  it  in  the  dark.  But  they,  apprehend 
ing  some  trick  would  be  played  upon  them 
by  us  in  the  dark,  marched  in  a  trot,  and 
reached  Warrenton  at  sunset,  with  all  their 
prisoners,  turkeys,  chickens,  &c.  They  tojok 
back  with  them  two  hundred  of  the  finest 
horses  in  the  State  of  Virginia.  The  citizens 
of  Warrenton  told  us  that  this  raiding  party, 
on  their  return,  had  turkey  and  roast  chicken 
for  dinner  one  whole  week  afterwards. 

After  this  night  raid  to  "  Mosby's  Confed 
eracy,"  the  boys  built  huts  in  the  mountains, 
but  would  take  their  meals  as  heretofore,  and 
after  supper,  or  at  dark,  would  repair  with 
their  horses  to  the  huts,  and  repose  as  com 
fortably  as  in  feather-beds.  Some  slept  in 
caves  in  the  mountains  ;  some  continued  to 
remain  as  before,  but  had  burrowed  holes  in 
the  ground  under  the  houses,  which  were 
entered  through  a  trap-door.  When  the 
"  British "  (Sam  Alexander's  name  of  the 
enemy)  came,  they  could  seek  refuge  in  the 
holes ;  the  houses  being  hid  in  the  woods. 
Others  had  niches,  with  small  holes  for  the 
eyes  made  in  the  walls  of  the  houses ;  these 
niches  being  entered  by  private  doors.  Some 


180 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 


few  would  secrete  themselves  up  the  chim 
neys.  Mosby,  with  one  or  two  of  his  staff, 
and  often  by  himself,  would  generally,  at 
dark,  mount  their  horses,  and  go  down  to 
some  good  friend's  house  near  the  enemy's 
camps,  and  stay  all  night,  thinking  that  the 
safest  place. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


AFFAIR  AT  DRANESVILLK  —  ATTACK  UPON  COLONEL  COLE  —  "  PRI 
VATE"  OPERATIONS  — MOSBY  LIES  IN  WAIT  FOR  A  DETATCHMENT 
—  EVACUATION  OF  WARRENTON  —  RAID  INTO  THE  VALLEY. 


THE  success  of  this  last  raid  produced  the 
greatest  rejoicing  throughout  the  North. 
The  enemy  were  sure  they  had  crippled 
Mosby  beyond  his  ability  to  recuperate.  The 
officers  commanding  the  expedition  were 
lauded  to  the  skies.  The  California  battalion, 
stationed  at  Vienna,  concluded  to  finish  him 
entirely,  and  terminate  his  career  as  a  parti 
san.  Accordingly,  a  raid  was  made  by  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  who,  after  scouring 
the  upper  portion  of  Fauquier,  without  seeing 
him,  his  men,  or  anything  else,  returned  in  the 
hope  that  he  had  left  the  country,  as  he  could 
no  longer  hold  it.  Mosby,  hearing  them 
coming,  collected  eighty  of  his  men,  and 
started  for  Dranesville,  a  little  village  in 

16  (181) 


182  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Prince  William  County.  Knowing  the  enemy 
would  pass  through  the  place  on  their  return 
to  camp,  Mosby  placed  twenty-five  of  his 
men  in  ambush,  on  each  side  of  the  road, 
just  outside  of  the  town,  and  divided  the 
rest,  so  that  one  half  should  attack  in  front, 
while  the  other  half  charged  them  in  the 
rear,  thus  subjecting  them  to  a  fire  all  around. 
In  the  course  of  an  hour,  the  enemy  ap 
proached  in  a  very  careless  manner.  The 
men  in  ambush  opened  on  them  with  Colt's 
army -pistols,  producing  confusion  in  their 
ranks.  Before  order  was  restored,  they  were 
attacked  in  the  rear  and  front ;  Mosby  lead 
ing  the  latter.  Desperate  was  the  fighting, 
and  terrible  the  slaughter ;  a  large  portion 
of  the  fighting  being  hand  to  hand.  Num 
bers  fought  their  way  through  our  thin  ranks, 
and  escaped.  Fifty  of  the  enemy  were  killed 
and  wounded  and  left  on  the  field  ;  seventy 
prisoners  and  ninety  horses  were  brought  off 
the  field.  The  most  remarkable  feature  about 
the  affair  was,  that  Mosby  lost  only  one  man 
killed  (Chapplier  of  Fauquier,)  and  three 
•wounded. 

In  the  month  of  March,  Colonel  Cole  made 
his   farewell   raid   into    our   "  Confederacy." 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  183 

Mosby  was  at  Piedmont,  receiving  the  con 
gratulations  of  some  of  his  men  on  his 
promotion  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel. 
Cole  dashed  in  on  the  party,  and  dispersed 
them,  capturing  two  or  three.  Mosby,  rally 
ing  his  men,  and  by  the  coming  in  of  others 
having  his  force  increased  to  seventy -five 
effective  men,  followed  up  Cole,  whose  force 
numbered  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  attacked 
him  at  the  schoolhouse,  three  miles  from 
Upperville,  on  the  road  to  Bloomfield,  and 
routed  them,  driving  them  ten  miles,  killing 
and  wounding  twenty.  One  killed  they  left 
in  the  road,  and  he  was  buried  in  the  lot 
adjoining  the  schoolhouse  ;  Mosby  sustaining 
no  loss.  Twenty  horses  were  secured  in  this 
little  affair.  The  rest  of  this  month  no  raids 
took  place ;  but  numerous  private  scouting- 
parties  operated  on  the  enemy,  obtaining  val 
uable  information,  and  doing  good  service. 
The  brave  and  lamented  Watt  Bowie,  of 
Maryland,  Bush  and  Sam  Underwood,  John 
W.  Puryear,  of  Richmond,  John  Russell, 
of  Clark  County,  Virginia,  and  others  com 
manded  these  parties.  Bowie  operated  in 
Maryland,  the  Underwoods  in  Fairfax,  Rus 
sell,  Puryear,  and  others  operated  in  the 


184  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

valley.  They  would  return,  some  mornings, 
loaded  with  plunder,  prisoners,  and  horses, 
captured  from  the  enemy. 

Early  in  April,  Colonel  Mosby  received 
information,  from  a  reliable  source,  that  the 
enemy  at  Warrenton  contemplated  another 
raid  into  his  Confederacy.  There  was  general 
rejoicing  throughout  the  command  at  their 
expected  visit.  Mosby,  acting  on  this  informa 
tion,  ordered  every  man  to  repair  to  Somerset 
Mills,  on  the  road  from  Piedmont  to  Ashby's 
Gap.  Two  hundred  men  reported  for  duty. 
At  dark  we  moved  from  Somerset  to  the  woods 
adjoining  Mrs.  Shacklett's  farm,  one  mile 
from  Piedmont,  and  lay  there  three  consecu 
tive  nights,  awaiting  the  approach  of  the 
enemy  ;  but  the  enemy  did  not  come ;  and 
most  fortunate  was  it  for  them  that  they  did 
not,  for  very  few  would  have  got  back  to 
camp  to  tell  the  tale.  Each  of  our  men  was 
armed  with  a  double-barrelled  shot-gun  (each 
barrel  with  twenty-four  buckshot  in  it),  be 
sides  three  brace  of  Colt's  pistols,  which  were 
good  for  twelve  more  shots.  What  execution 
these  would  have  done,  I  leave  for  my  readers 
to  determine. 

General  Grant,  having  assumed  command 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEtf.  185 

of  the  Array  of  the  Potomac  about  this  time, 
commenced  his  advance  "  on  to  Richmond," 
expecting  to  walk  rough -shod  over  General 
Lee,  and  celebrate  his  Fourth  of  July  in  that 
city.  Warrenton  was  evacuated,  much  to  the 
relief  of  its  citizens.  At  this  place  they  left 
articles  which  betrayed  the  traps  they  had  set 
for  us,  which  consisted  of  wires  stretched 
across  the  streets,  to  sweep  us  off  our  horses 
if  we  dashed  into  the  place  during  their  occu 
pation  of  it ;  but  we  had  warm  friends  there, 
who  kept  us  always  posted  in  regard  to  the 
intentions  of  the  enemy  and  what  they  were 
doing.  Nothing  could  transpire  in  Warrenton 
during  the  day,  which  we  would  not  know  at 
headquarters  before  twelve  o'clock  the  same 
night. 

A  few  days  after  the  evacuation  of  Warren- 
ton,  Chapman  and  Montjoy  carried  fifty  of  us 
down  to  the  place  to  capture  a  scouting-party 
of  the  enemy,  numbering  seventy-five  or  a 
hundred.  We  arrived  in  town  too  late,  the 
enemy  having  gone  about  one  hour  before. 
Our  entrance  into  Warrenton  wras  very  gratify 
ing  to  the  men.  Smiles  and  waving  of  white 
handkerchiefs,  from  fair  young  ladies,  greeted 
us  from  every  house ;  and  there  was  a  general 

16* 


186  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

rejoicing.  Cakes,  wine,  &c.  (just  think  of  it, 
kind  reader),  were  handed  around  by  pretty 
ladies  to  a  set  of  guerillas,  who  had  nothing 
to  drink  in  their  Confederacy  but  new  wheat 
whiskey  and  apple  brandy  just  from  the  still. 
As  we  entered  the  town,  desolation  met  the 
eye  from  every  quarter.  Warrenton,  which, 
in  time  of  peace,  abounded  in  beautiful  groves, 
flowers,  and  green  fields,  was  now  like  a  de 
serted  ship  at  sea.  The  beautiful  groves  had 
been  cut  down  to  afford  fuel  to  the  soldiers ; 
fences  gone  ;  private  grounds  and  buildings 
converted  into  stables  ;  and,  in  the  place  of  the 
luxuriant  fields,  ugly  mud  huts  could  be  seen 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Everything 
inviting  and  pleasant  to  the  sight  had  disap 
peared,  except  the  pretty  girls  and  the  houses 
they  lived  in.  Remaining  in  town  not  more 
than  an  hour,  we  returned  to  headquarters  to 
prepare  for  a  raid  into  the  valley  the  next  day. 
Agreeably  to  orders,  we  met  at  Paris  the  next 
day.  Colonel  Mosby  made  a  detail  of  twenty- 
five  men,  and  started  for  the  valley.  Crossing 
the  Blue  Ridge  at  Ashby's  Gap,  and  swimming 
the  Shenandoah  River  at  Berry's  Ferry,  near 
Winchester,  he  captured  a  small  wagon-train 
and  ten  horses  and  six  prisoners,  and  sent 


MOSDY  AND  HIS  MEN.  187 

them  out  to  Fauquier,  by  Cuper  and  three 
others.  Pushing  on  with  the  rest  of  his  men 
(twenty),  he  reached  Martinsburg  a  little  after 
midnight.  After  a  little  reconoitring  he  dis 
mounted  part  of  his  men  (the  rest  holding 
their  horses),  and  entered  the  enemy's  camp 
about  one  mile  from  town.  The  officers  being 
absent  on  a  frolic  in  the  town,  the  guards  were 
careless.  Our  men  entered  the  stables,  and 
brought  out  twenty  fine  horses.  The  guards 
were  aroused  ;  and  our  men,  upon  leaving  the 
stables,  were  fired  upon,  but  no  one  on  our 
side  was  injured.  Some  of  the  men  entered 
the  officers'  tents,  and  secured  their  entire 
wardrobes.  Mosby  and  Wirt  Ashby  entered  the 
town,  and  inspected  the  enemy's  fortifications, 
rejoining  the  men  without  discovery.  The 
Yankee  officers,  on  their  return  to  quarters,  did 
not  miss  anything  until  ten  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  when,  to  their  astonishment,  they  dis 
covered  that  twenty  of  their  finest  horses  were 
gone.  By  the  time  the  discovery  was  made, 
Mosby  was  across  the  Shenandoah  River,  in 
Paris,  distributing  the  prizes  amongst  his  men. 
There  were  horses  in  this  lot  which  Louis 
Napoleon  would  have  been  proud  to  own  ;  yet 
Mosby  would  not  appropriate  a  single  one  to 


188  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

his  own  use.  During  his  whole  career  as  a 
partisan,  of  the  many  thousand  horses — and 
very  fine  ones  too  —  which  he  captured,  he 
appropriated  but  one  captured  horse  to  his 
own  use.  This  he  did  when  General  Lee  in 
vaded  Pennsylvania,  in  1863.  General  Stuart 
was  passing  through  Upperville  upon  a  very 
indifferent  horse.  Mosby,  feeling  a  little  mor 
tified  at  the  condition  of  the  General's  horse, 
dismounted  from  a  very  fine  mare,  and  pre 
sented  it  to  the  General.  Mosby  then  mounted 
Stuart's  horse,  and,  crossing  the  mountains 
into  the  valley,  captured  a  vidette  that  night, 
and  returned  to  Fauquier  before  day  the  next 


morning. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


EXPLOIT  OK  LIEUTENANT  CHAPMAN  —  VISIT  OF  A  GERMAN  BARON  — 
"GOING  THROUGH"  — OUR  "TACTICS"  — NARROW  ESCAPE— CAP 
TURES  OF  WAGONS,  ETC. 


T  IEUTENANT  SAMUEL  CHAPMAN, 
JLJ  brother  of  Captain  William  H.  Chapman, 
who  had  distinguished  himself  on  several 
battle-fields  by  his  bravery,  was  this  month 
transferred  to  the  battalion  from  the  regular 
army,  at  the  special  request  of  Colonel  Mosby, 
who  appointed  him  his  Adjutant,  with  the 
rank  of  First  Lieutenant.  Lieutenant  Chap 
man,  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  in  Fauquier, 
took  fifty  men,  crossed  the  mountains  at  Slice 
Barbour's,  and  the  Shenandoah  River  at  How- 
ardsville,  and  attacked,  in  the  night-time,  a 
picket-post  of  one  hundred  of  the  enemy  at 
Guard  Hill,  and  captured  thirty  prisoners,  in 
cluding  one  captain,  and  fifty  horses,  besides 

(189) 


190  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

killing  and  wounding   several,  and  returned 
without  loss. 

Mosby's  fame  as  a  successful  partisan 
ranger,  was  at  its  zenith,  and  had  reached 
the  Old  World.  Officers  in  the  European 
armies  came  over,  and  joined  him  as  privates. 
One  German  baron  came  out  from  Washing 
ton  to  see  Mosby,  and  learn  his  tactics  and  the 
great  secret  of  his  success.  On  his  way  up 
to  our  headquarters,  from  Washington  City, 
he  met  with  some  of  our  scouts  in  Fairfax 
County.  He  told  them  his  business  :  but  they 
took  him  to  be  an  impostor  and  spy ;  and, 
acting  upon  that  supposition,  they  u  went 
through  him."  As  I  have  used  this  phrase 
very  often,  I  deem  it  proper  my  readers 
should  know  what  it  means,  and  the  modus 
operandi.  Meeting  an  enemy  after  his  sur 
render,  you  demand  his  greenbacks.  If  he 
is  slow  in  shelling  cut,  you  simply  insert  your 
hand  into  his  pocket  and  take  them,  or 
present  a  pistol  to  his  head.  The  latter  was 
the  most  popular  method  ;  and,  finally,  it  got 
to  be  a  common  course  on  both  sides,  that  the 
captured,  after  his  arms  were  taken  away, 
always  handed  the  captor  his  pocket-book 
without  being  asked.  If  he  had  a  watch,  he 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  191 

was  relieved  of  that,  lest  it  might  be  taken 
from  him  on  his  way  to  Richmond.  If  his 
hat  was  better  than  yours,  you  exchanged 
with  him,  and  the  same  way  with  boots  and 
everything  else.  My  readers  will  please  to 
understand  we  were  not  the  only  ones  who 
indulged  in  this  luxury.  Our  enemies  in 
dulged  in  it  in  every  instance,  and  particu 
larly  the  officers,  even  those  as  high  in  rank 
as  colonel. 

But  to  return  to  our  baron.  He  remon 
strated  with  his  captors  all  in  vain.  After 
relieving  him  of  his  valuables,  they  let  him 
pass  on ;  and  he  reached  Mosby's  headquar 
ters.  He  reported  his  treatment,  and  asked 
redress.  After  an  examination  of  his  papers 
and  his  business,  he  was  politely  informed 
that  that  "  was  part  of  our  tactics."  The 
baron  returned  to  Washington  a  poorer  but 
wiser  man. 

During  this  month,  details  were  made  to 
go  to  Loudon  County,  to  collect  forage  for 
the  ensuing  campaign,  which  promised  to  be 
a  very  active  one.  Grant  had  fought  the 
battle  of  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  and  was 
repulsed.  General  Lee,  fearing  his  supplies 
would  be  cut  off,  reoccupied  his  old  lines  at 


192  MOSBY  AND  II1S  MEN. 

Fredericksburg,  and  gave  his  adversary  a 
severe  drubbing  there.  Citizens  of  that 
ancient  town  were  turned  out  of  their  homes 
to  accommodate  the  enemy's  wounded,  which 
numbered  thirty  thousand. 

Just  after  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg, 
Mosby  took  fifty  men,  well-mounted,  to  King 
George's  County,  below  Fredericksburg,  and 
captured  a  wagon-train,  and  brought  out 
forty  mules  and  horses  and  ten  prisoners, 
without  loss.  He  was  absent  five  days. 
Having  been  so  successful  on  the  last  raid, 
Mosby  ordered  fifty  more  of  us  to  meet  him 
at  Joe  Blackwell's,  the  day  after  his  return, 
with  five  days'  feed  for  our  horses.  Rations 
for  ourselves  we  never  carried,  depending  on 
buying  or  having  them  given  to  us  by  the  citi 
zens.  We  moved  from  headquarters  at  noon, 
and  bivouacked  the  first  night  out  near  Cat- 
lett's  Station,  on  the  Orange  and  Alexandria 
Railroad.  At  daylight  the  next  morning  we 
crossed  the  railroad,  and  took  the  old  tele 
graph  road  to  within  a  mile  of  Stafford  Court 
House.  Leaving  the  highway  about  half  a 
mile,  we  entered  one  of  those  deep  ravines 
which  abound  in  that  rugged  country,  and 
remained  until  the  next  afternoon,  when  we 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  193 

resumed  our  march,  passing  through  Stafford 
Court  House,  thence  across  the  Acquia  Creek 
Railroad,  to  a  secluded  point  about  three 
miles  from  Belle  Plains.  Here  we  were 
rejoined  by  Mosby,  Charlie  Hall,  and  John 
Edmonds,  who  had  been  on  a  scouting-party 
to  find  out  the  wagon-trains  from  the  Plains 
to  Fredericksburg.  While  out,  they  captured 
a  wagon-master,  wrho  had  strayed  away  from 
his  train,  from  whom  they  obtained  all  the 
information  necessary  for  Mosby  to  carry  out 
his  plans.  While  they  were  interrogating 
him,  a  brigade  of  infantry  was  seen  approach 
ing  them.  Mosby  sent  his  prisoner  into  the 
woods,  out  of  their  view,  while  he  and  Ed 
monds  remained  in  the  road.  As  the  brigade 
passed,  Mosby  and  Edmonds  exchanged  sa 
lutes,  and  conversed  with  the  officers  "  on  the 
situation."  After  the  column  had  passed, 
Mosby  and  his  party  returned  to  the  com 
mand,  reaching  it  early  in  the  afternoon.  At 
midnight  we  started  out  to  find  the  wagon- 
camp.  On  the  march  we  had  a  fine  view,  by 
moonlight,  of  the  enemy's  fleet  at  the  mouth 
of  Acquia  Creek.  It  had  the  appearance  of 
a  large  city  lighted  by  gas.  A  diligent 
search  was  instituted  for  the  camp,  but  it  was 

17 


194  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

not  found  until  near  daylight.  It  was  not 
guarded  ;  but,  daylight  being  so  near,  Mosby 
deferred  the  attack  until  next  night,  with, the 
view  of  making  a  sure  thing  of  it.  Had  the 
nights  that  season  of  the  year  been  one  or 
two  hours  longer,  Mosby  would  have  made  a 
capture  which  would  have  eclipsed  all  his 
former  deeds. 

From  Belle  Plains  to  Fredericksburg  the 
distance  is  nine  miles,  and  the  enemy  had  a 
train  of  wagons  hauling  supplies  from  this 
place  to  the  latter  for  the  army.  Indeed,  so 
numerous  were  the  enemy,  that,  to  facilitate 
this  immense  amount  of  transportation,  two 
roads  were  required,  one  for  the  wagons  to 
go  up,  and  the  other  to  return.  The  remote 
ness  of  this  country  from  our  headquarters, 
Fauquier,  induced  the  enemy  to  believe  we 
would  not  molest  them  ;  consequently,  they 
dispensed  with  the  usual  guards.  Besides, 
Grant  had  lost  so  heavily  at  Spottsylvania 
and  Fredericksburg,  that  every  soldier  was 
needed  in  the  field.  When  it  was  known  the 
camp  was  found,  the  men  were  anxious  to 
"  go  into  it "  anyhow.  The  temptation  was 
great,  but  had  to  be  resisted  ;  for  had  we 
attacked  it,  and  captured  five  hundred  or  a 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  195 

thousand  mules  and  horses,  we  could  have  at 
that  hour  been  cut  off  and  captured.  Mosby 
took  us  back  to  the  dense  pine  woods,  to 
await  the  return  of  night.  At  ten  o'clock 
Mosby  left  us  in  charge  of  Alfred  Glasscock, 
who  was  to  make  the  attack,  and  went  scout 
ing  to  Fairfax  County. 

The  enemy,  in  small  squads,  started  out 
the  next  morning,  to  see  if  any  rebels  were 
in  that  country.  Seeing  the  tracks  we  made 
the  night  before,  they  returned  to  camp,  and 
reported.  Then  a  force  of  one  regiment  of 
cavalry  and  one  regiment  of  infantry  were 
started  out  to  capture  us.  While  most  of  us 
were  indulging  ourselves  in  a  nap,  under  the 
shade  of  the  trees,  some  with  their  horses 
unsaddled,  our  men  were  suddenly  confronted 
with 'a  large  column  of  infantry.  They,  not 
knowing  our  force,  halted,  which  afforded  our 
pickets  time  to  get  back  to  camp,  and  apprise 
us  of  our  danger.  In  a  few  moments  we 
were  mounted,  and  ready  to  move ;  but  our 
guide,  Charlie  Hall,  was  gone.  We,  how 
ever,  commenced  the  retreat,  going  in  the 
direction  of  the  railroad.  Meeting  a  citizen 
hiding  from  the  enemy,  we  were  advised  by 
him  not  to  "go  that  way  ;  "  that  "  the  whole 


196  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

country  was  filled  with  the  enemy."  There 
being  no  one  amongst  us  who  knew  the  coun 
try,  he  guided  us  to  the  railroad,  where  we 
met  another  detachment  of  infantry  marching 
down  the  railroad  with  laborers  to  repair  it. 
Being  thus  cut  off,  Glasscock  adopted  the 
daring  plan  of  dashing  on  (we  after  him), 
and  crying  out,  "  Mosby  is  after  us !  get  out 
of  the  way !  "  The  enemy  broke,  and  ran  for 
the  woods ;  we  passed,  and  got  out  safe. 

That  morning,  early,  Charlie  Hall  (our 
guide)  and  John  Edmonds  had  started  out 
scouting  ;  and,  as  they  had  not  returned  before 
we  left,  the  greatest  anxiety  was  felt  for  their 
safety.  They  came  out  safe,  with  three  pris 
oners  and  horses,  but  with  some  difficulty. 
On  their  return  to  camp,  they  met  this  same 
force,  and  were  compelled  to  change  their 
course.  Whatever  way  they  went,  the  ene 
my's  pickets  were  seen.  Finding  themselves 
surrounded,  to  save  their  prisoners  and  horses, 
they  concluded  to  represent  themselves  as 
a  federal  scouting-party  looking  for  Mosby. 
Riding  up  to  the  pickets,  and  representing 
themselves  as  such,  they  were  permitted  to 
pass  out  of  their  lines,  and  got  back  safe  to 
Fauquier  with  their  booty. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 


CAPTURE  OF  A  VIDETTE  BY  JOHN  RUSSELL  — DISAPPOINTMENTS  — 
VARIOUS  OPERATIONS— BOB  WALKER,  LIKE  CHARLES  SECOND, 
ESCAPES  BY  CLIMBING  A  TREE  —  KEYES'S  CAVALRY. 


IN  a  few  days  after  our  return,  Mosby  (not 
seeing  anything  in  Fairfax  for  us)  took 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  the  valley, 
crossing  the  mountains  at  Ashby's  Gap,  and 
swimming  the  Shenandoah  River  at  Berry's 
Ferry,  pushed  on  under  cover  of  night  to 
Martinsburg,  to  capture  one  hundred  cavalry 
and  two  hundred  artillery  horses.  We 
reached  the  suburbs  of  the  town  about  three 
o'clock  A.M.,  without  being  seen  by  any  one, 
and  halted  under  a  hill  near  the  railroad, 
while  Mosby  and  John  Russell  should  recon 
noitre,  and  find  out  the  best  way  to  get  in. 
To  their  surprise,  three  hundred  infantry 
were  found  guarding  the  horses,  and  videttes 

17*  (197) 


198  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

were  found  posted  a  hundred  yards  apart  all 
around  the  camp.  Mosby  at  once  abandoned 
all  idea  of  attacking  the  camp,  and  ordered 
us  to  retire.  On  going  out  we  had  not  pro 
ceeded  more  than  one  hundred  yards  before 
the  command,  "  Halt !  who  comes  dar "?  "  rang 
in  our  ears,  John  Russell,  our  guide,  being 
in  the  advance,  rode  up  to  him.  He  was  a 
German,  and  asked  Ilussell,  "  Vot  you  want! " 
his  carbine  pointing  at  Russell's  breast.  Ilus 
sell  pushed  his  carbine  aside,  and,  pointing  a 
pistol  in  his  face  ordered  him  to  throw  the 
carbine  down. 

"  Vot  you  want  me  throw  it  way  for?  Me 
pay  for  it." 

After  the  exchange  of  a  few  more  words, 
Russell,  with  his  prisoner,  joined  the  com 
mand,  and  all  started  back  for  Fauquier-  At 
sunrise  Mosby  ordered  A.  E.  Richards,  who 
had  been  promoted  to  the  captaincy  of  Company 
B,  for  meritorious  conduct,  to  detail  twenty 
men,  and  return  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  and  take  that  express-train  which 
passed  while  we  were  lying  near  Martinsburg 
the  night  before.  Richards  made  the  detail, 
including  Lieutenant  Harry  Hatcher,  alias 
"  Deadly,"  of  Company  A,  and  returned  the 


MOSBT.  AND  HIS  MEN.  199 

next  night.  They  reached  the  railroad  with 
out  being  discovered  by  the  pickets.  There 
were  two  tracks,  the  old  one  and  a  new  one ; 
and  they,  thinking  the  train  would  pass  over 
the  new,  removed  a  rail  on  it,  and  retired  to 
a  small  piece  of  woods  some  twenty  yards 
from  the  road,  and  then  patiently  awaited  its 
arrival,  each  one  having  visions  of  greenbacks, 
gold  watches,  &c.,  &c.,  looming  up  before 
them.  In  a  few  moments  the  train  came 
dashing  by,  but  on  the  old  track.  One  fellow, 
thinking  it  would  stop  for  him,  mounted  his 
horse  and  made  for  it ;  but  it  soon  disappeared 
behind  a  mountain,  and  Richards  returned 
without  accomplishing  anything. 

The  season  for  a  vigorous  campaign  ap 
proaching,  Mosby,  to  be  prepared  for  it,  sent 
Companies  B  and  C  to  London  County, 
to  get  forage  for  the  battalion.  Chapman, 
with  Company  C,  collected  it  near  Lovetts- 
ville,  and  pressed  wagons  from  the  farmers  to 
send  it  to  Fauquier.  Richards,  with  Com 
pany  B,  operated  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Waterford,  sending  out  with  each  load  one  or 
two  men  as  a  guard.  Chapman  gathered  his 
without  interruption.  Richards,  after  collect 
ing  the  tithe  around  Waterford,  took  his  re- 


200  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

maining  men,  six  in  number,  and  moved  over 
towards  Berlin  to  find  corn  for  another  occa 
sion.  While  going  down  the  grade  beyond 
General  Wright's  (who  was  a  wealthy  and 
influential  farmer  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  but  was  broken  up  by  the  enemy), 
we  were  attacked  by  Keyes's  cavalry,  sixty  in 
number.  Wre  retreated  to  the  woods ;  and, 
striking  a  private  road,  we  followed  that, 
which  led  us  to  the  mountains,  pursued  all 
the  way.  Bob  Walker,  with  Captain  Rich 
ards,  while  gallantly  trying  to  keep  back  the 
foe,  had  his  horse  shot  under  him.  Being 
near  a  wheat-field,  he  retreated  to  that, 
climbed  an  apple-tree,  and  escaped,  although 
the  enemy  instituted  a  diligent  search  for  him. 
Reaching  the  mountains,  we  ascended  them  ; 
and,  resting  our  horses  until  the  cool  of  the 
evening,  we  then  resumed  our  march  back  to 
old  Fauquier. 

This  affair  being  the  first  time  Keyes's 
men  ever  pursued  any  of  us,  they  were  very 
much  emboldened,  and  afterwards  would  cross 
the  Potomac  River  at  the  Point  of  Rocks,  in 
squads  of  fifteen  and  twenty,  and  scout  up  as 
far  as  Hamilton,  Woodgrove,  and  Waterford, 
robbing  the  citizens  who  sympathized  with 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  201 

the  South,  and  getting  whiskey  at  Downey's 
Stillhouse,  the  owner  of  which  was  President 
of  the  bogus  Virginia  Senate,  then  holding  its 
sessions  in  Alexandria.  This  place  was  a 
great  rendezvous  for  them,  at  which  they 
captured  quite  a  number  of  our  men ;  and 
from  this  place  they  would  come  up  to  Water- 
ford,  a  distance  of  only  five  miles,  to  see  their 
parents  and  sweethearts.  It  was  on  on£  of 
these  trips,  that  Lieutenant  Frank  Williams, 
of  Company  B,  gave  a  drubbing  to  a  party 
of  them,  which  effectually  terminated  all 
future  expeditions  of  the  kind. 

Lieutenant  Williams,  with  six  men,  visited 
Waterford  with  the  view  of  capturing  one 
of  these  parties.  Passing  through  the  town, 
he  concealed  his  men  behind  an  old  house 
near  the  bridge,  at  the  lower  part.  In  a  short 
time  fifteen  of  Keyes's  men  dashed  into  the 
village,  and  commenced  having  "  a  nice  time  " 
with  their  friends ;  telling  them  how  they 
had  chased  .  "  those  horse-thieves,"  meaning 
Mosby's  men,  and  expressing  a  strong  desire 
to  met  them  again.  Williams,  with  one  man, 
rode  up  to  where  they  were,  and  fired  into 
them.  They  soon  mounted  their  horses,  and 
gave  Williams  chase.  When  they  had 


202  MOSBY  AND  EIS  MEN. 

reached  their  comrades,  they  halted  ;  and  the 
rest  of  his  men  charged  the  enemy.  Keyes 
retreated  in  confusion,  and  was  pursued  three 
miles.  Six  of  his  men  were  captured,  one 
killed  in  the  town,  and  three  wounded. 
Williams  secured  ten  fine  horses  in  this  little 
affair.  When  he  returned  to  Waterford,  to 
convey  the  prisoners,  and  look  after  the 
wounded,  the  most  affecting  scenes  took  place 
hetween  the  prisoners  and  their  friends  at 
parting.  Williams  sustained  neither  loss  nor 
injury. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


CHARGE  OF  BUSHWHACKING  —  A  DARKEY  BUSHWHACKER  —  UNION 
CITIZENS  OF  WATERFOKD  —  A  "  TRAP  "  — ARTILLERY  —  SURREN 
DER  AT  DUKFIELD  —  LIEUTENANT  NELSON. 


THE  enemy,  while  we  occupied  that  coun 
try,  very  ungenerously  accused  us  and  our 
Southern  friends  living  inside  their  lines  with 
being  buslrsvhackers.  Now  I  will  venture  to 
say  here  to  the  world,  and  to  state  it  without 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  there  were  not  two 
persons,  soldiers  or  citizens,  in  that  whole 
country,  extending  from  the  Blue  Ridge  to 
Washington,  who  were  regular  bushwhack 
ers.  The  only  instance  of  the  kind  that  ever 
came  to  my  knowledge  was  that  of  a  darkey 
(whom  the  Yankees  had  driven  away  from  his 
home)  near  Salem,  while  General  Meade's 
army  was  lying  around  Warrenton.  and  scout- 
ing-parties  were  roving  over  the  whole  coun 
try.  This  darkey  would  take  his  double-bar- 

(203) 


204  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

relied  shot-gun,  secrete  himself  in  the  corner 
of  the  fence,  amongst  some  bushes,  and  pick 
up  the  stragglers.  What  he  did  with  his  pris 
oners  was  never  known  ;  but  I  learned,  from  a 
reliable  source,  that  he  sent  them  to  Culpep- 
per.  This  darkey  would  frequently  have  eight 
and  ten  horses  at  a  time.  This  explanation, 
I  trust,  is  satisfactory,  so  far  as  regards  South 
ern  bushwhackers. 

Now,  a  word  concerning  the  Union  citizens 
in  and  around  Waterford.  That  place,  in 
my  judgment,  afforded  more  of  that  class 
of  people,  during  the  war,  than  any  other 
town  or  county  in  Eastern  Virginia.  When 
ever  we  were  in  that  particular  portion  of 
Loudon,  our  pickets  were  invariably  fired 
upon  by  them.  Information  reached  Mosby 
that  the  enemy  had  laid  a  trap  in  Loudon  to 
capture  him  ;  and  he,  being  a  person  ever 
ready  to  acquire  knowledge,  ordered  a  meet 
ing  of  the  command  at  Upperville,  on  the 
1st  of  June,  that  they  might  go  up  with  him. 
One  hundred  men  reported  for  duty.  Captain 
Richards,  with  Company  B,  he  sent  ahead 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Point  of  Rocks,  to 
toll  the  enemy  over  the  river,  while  he  took 
Companies  A  and  C  with  him.  Our  move- 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  205 

ments  were  made  under  cover  of  night,  the 
main  roads  being  shunned,  to  avoid  being 
seen,  and  to  keep  the  people  ignorant  of  our 
actual  strength.  In  the  daytime  we  stayed 
in  the  woods,  and  were  not  allowed  to  expose 
ourselves  to  any  one.  Reaching  the  turnpike 
leading  to  Berlin,  Mosby  distributed  his  men 
in  squads  along  this  thoroughfare,  in  striking- 
distance  of  each  other,  and  patiently  awaited 
the  approach  of  the  enemy.  Captain  Rich 
ards  being  unable  to  draw  the  enemy  across 
the  river,  from  their  stronghold  at  Point  of 
Rocks,  Mosby  and  ten  men  went  to  Harper's 
Ferry,  to  draw  them  out  from  that  place.  The 
men  had  not  smelt  gunpowder  for  nearly  one 
month  now,  and  were  "  spiling  for  a  fight." 
Company  B  was*  ordered  to  Hillsboro',  in 
hopes  the  enemy  could  be  tolled  from  the 
Ferry.  In  such  a  contingency,  they  were  to 
hold  them  in  check  until  the  rest  of  the 
men  could  be  brought  up.  Company  B  re 
mained  here  three  days,  and  no  signs  of  an 
attack.  We  returned  to  Fauquier,  and  to  this 
day  have  never  learned  what  that  trap  was 
which  the  enemy  had  set  for  us.  During  our 
stay  we  were  most  hospitably  entertained  by 
some  of  their  citizens.  Mr.  Janney's  and  Mr. 

18 


206  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Hoe's  accomplished  wives  and  daughters  were 
unremitting  in  their  attentions  to  us ;  and 
music,  dancing,  card  -  playing,  &c.,  was  the 
order  for  three  whole  days. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  the  battalion  met  at 
Rectortown,  where  we  had  roll-call  for  the 
first  time  since  our  organization.  Two  hun 
dred  and  sixty  men  answered  to  their  names  ; 
and,  for  the  first  time,  we  had  one  piece  of 
artillery  (twelve  -  pound  howitzer).  Detail 
of  artillerists  was  made  to  man  the  gun,  and 
Lieutenant  Sam  Chapman  placed  in  com 
mand  of  it.  At  noon  the  men  fell  into  ranks, 
and  moved  off  in  the  direction  of  Fairfax. 
On  reaching  Anandale,  we  found  the  enemy 
prepared  to  receive  us,  and  also  reenforced. 
Declining  to  attack  them,  Mosby  ordered  us 
back  to  Fauquier  by  companies,  Captain 
Richards,  with  Company  B,  taking  the 
road,  via  Centreville  and  Manassas.  When 
near  Centreville  he  met  with  a  large  squad 
of  the  enemy,  grazing  their  horses  and  sur 
veying  land  (for  what  purpose  the  writer 
never  learned).  Charging  them  before  they 
could  form,  he  took  thirty-five  of  them  pris 
oners,  killed,  wounded,  and  dispersed  the  rest, 
secured  fifty  horses,  and  got  back  to  Fauquier 
County  without  loss. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  207 

On  the  28th  day  of  June,  a  meeting  was 
held  at  Upperville.  Two  hundred  and  fifty 
men  responded  to  their  names.  At  noon  we 
moved  up  the  turnpike  through  Paris;  thence 
across  the  mountains  at  Ashby  Gap.  One 
mile  from  the  Gap,  at  Mount  Carmel,  we 
took  the  mountain  road,  which  carried  us  to 
Shepperd's  Mills,  crossing  the  Shenandoah 
River  there.  Resting  our  horses  an  hour  or 
so,  we  resumed  our  march,  passing  through 
Cabletown,  on  to  within  one  mile  of  Charles- 
town,  on  the  turnpike,  where  we  halted  and 
drew  up  in  line  of  battle  on  either  side  of  the 
road,  with  one  piece  of  artillery  posted  on  an 
eminence  commanding  the  turnpike  up  and 
down  for  one  mile.  A  party  was  sent  into 
town  to  draw  the  enemy  out,  if  any  were 
there ;  if  not,  to  lialltown,  near  Harper's 
Ferry. 

After  waiting  half  an  hour  to  be  attacked, 
and  the  party  sent  out  to  draw  the  enemy 
on  having  returned  with  intelligence  of  no 
enemy  nearer  than  Harper's  Ferry,  Mosby 
determined  to  strike  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad.  Passing  through  Charlestown, 
where  we  were  greeted  with  waving  of  hand 
kerchiefs  and  smiles  from  pretty  ladies,  we 
filed  off  to  the  left,  outside  of  the  town,  and 


208  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

made  for  Duffield  Station,  leaving  Company 
A  (twenty-five  men)  with  Lieutenant  Joseph 
Nelson,  to  prevent,  if  possible,  our  being  cut 
off  by  troops  from  the  Ferry.  Reaching  the 
railroad  without  opposition,  Mosby  sent  Cap 
tain  Richards  into  Duffield,  with  flag  of  truce, 
demanding  an  unconditional  surrender,  on 
pain  of  being  shelled  in  two  minutes  ;  Mosby 
in  the  meanwhile  having  posted  his  howitzer 
in  good  position,  with  Company  C  to  support 
it.  So  great  was  the  surprise  that  the  lieu 
tenant  of  the  post  had  to  arrange  the  terms, 
the  commandant  being  taken  very  suddenly 
sick.  Richards  returned  with  the  terms,  and 
we  occupied  the  place.  The  camp  was 
burnt,  and  all  Government  goods  in  the  depot 
confiscated,  including  Union  men's  shoes,  and 
ladies'  and  gentlemen's  dress  and  fancy  goods. 
Groceries  were  found  in  great  quantities, 
with  which  each  man  filled  his  sack.  The 
whole  guard  was  surrendered,  but  only  sev 
enty  infantry  prisoners  were  brought  away. 
Mosby,  apprehending  a  large  force  might  be 
sent  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  intercept  him, 
ordered  the  retreat  to  where  Nelson  was. 

Mosby's  expectations  were  realized.  Be 
fore  we  were  out  of  sight  of  Duffield,  a 
courier  came  to  direct  us  "to  hurry  back,  as 


MOSB?  AND  HIS  MEN.  209 

Nelson  was  engaging  an  overwhelming  force." 
We  hurried  back  as  fast  as  our  horses  would 
carry  us,  with  the  loads  on  them,  but  arrived 
too  late  for  the  fun.  Nelson  had  already, 
with  his  twenty-five  men,  fought  and  routed 
one  hundred  of  Siegel's  cavalry,  killing  two 
captains,  and  taking  twenty  of  them  prison 
ers,  with  their  horses.  Nelson  drove  the 
enemy  as  far  as  Halltown.  Apprehending 
a  stronger  force  would  be  sent  after  us,  the 
whole  command  started  for  Fauquier.  On 
the  way  out,  when  above  Charlestown  a  short 
distance,  Siegel  came  down  from  his  strong 
hold  with  a  force,  and  displayed  them  one 
mile  and  a  half  from  us,  and  marched  back. 
No  further  attempt  was  made  to  pursue, 
although  this  dispatch  was  sent  to  Washing 
ton  :  "  A  competent  force  has  been  sent  in  pur 
suit,  and  a  fair  prospect  they  will  be  overhauled!1 
We  recrossed  the  Shenandoah  River  at  Shep- 
perd's  Mills  that  night,  and  camped  on  the 
Fauquier  side.  Next  morning  at  daylight  our 
march  was  resumed,  and  we  reached  Paris  at 
late  breakfast.  Here  a  division  of  the  prop 
erty  was  made  amongst  the  men,  who  were 
then  disbanded,  and  the  prisoners  sent  to 
.Richmond. 

18* 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 


GOING  INTO  MARYLAND  —  STRICT  ORDER  IN  MARCHING  — SKIRMISH 
ING  ACROSS  THE  POTOMAC — A  DINING  PARTY  INTERRUPTED  — 
THE  KAGLE  CAKE— "GOING  THROUGH  "— YOUNG  MARTIN. 


nPHE  weather  being  so  very  hot,  nothing 
-*-  was  done  until  the  3d  day  of  July,  when 
the  whole  command  met  at  Upperville.  The 
men  turned  out  on  their  finest  horses,  each 
provided  with  a  large  sack  strapped  to  his 
saddles,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  home 
the  plunder.  The  men  had  a  presentiment 
that  Mosby  was  going  into  Maryland,  and  a 
very  correct  one  it  was  ;  for  Generals  Early 
and  Breckenridge  had  commenced  that  cel 
ebrated  movement  on  Washington  City,  and 
the  advance  was  crossing  the  Potomac  River 
at  Williamsport.  At  noon  the  men  were 
formed  by  companies,  and  moved  off  with 
one  piece  of  artillery,  taking  the  road  to 
Bloomfield.  On  reaching  Green  Garden 

(210) 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  211 

Mills,  one  mile  from  Upperville,  the  battalion 
was  halted,  horses  fed,  and  ammunition  dis 
tributed  (two  rounds  to  a  man).  The  sun 
being  so  intolerably  hot  (mercury  at  ninety- 
six  in  the  shade),  we  remained  here  in  the 
shade  until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
when  we  formed  again  and  moved  off.  All 
villages,  Union  men's  houses,  and  public 
roads  were  avoided  on  the  march  until  night. 
Strict  orders  were  issued  by  Colonel  Mosby, 
prohibiting  the  men  from  straggling,  and  tell 
ing  the  people  to  whose  command  they 
belonged.  The  first  night  out  we  bivouacked 
near  Purcellville,  London  County.  At  day 
light,  on  the  4th,  we  resumed  our  march ; 
passing  through  that  portion  of  Loudon  in 
which  resided  a  great  many  people  who,  to 
curry  favor  with  the  enemy,  and  get  pay  for 
so  doing,  were  continually  giving  information 
concerning  our  movements.  It  was  of  the 
highest  importance,  to  insure  success  to  Col 
onel  Mosby 's  plans,  that  the  citizens  should 
be  kept  ignorant  of  the  name  of  our  com 
mand  and  commander ;  so,  when  any  citizen 
inquired  who  we  were,  the  men  would  say, 
"*the  advance  guard  of  Longstreet's  corps," 
knowing  that  it  would  be  immediately  com- 


212  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

municated  across  the  river,  and  operate  to 
our  advantage.  To  give  plausibility  to  the 
statement,  they  had  received  intelligence 
that  Early  and  Breekenridge  were  already 
in  Maryland,  and  marching  on  Frederick 
City. 

At  eleven  o'clock  we  reached  the  Potomac 
opposite  Berlin,  and  in  full  view  of  the  place ; 
then  filing  right  down  the  river  through  a 
large  orchard,  a  few  miles'  march  brought  us 
to  the  farm  of  Mr.  B.  There  we  rested  our 
horses  for  fully  one  hour,  to  await  the  return 
of  a  small  scouting-party.  Colonel  Mosby 
had  sent  to  the  Point  of  Kocks,  to  look  at  the 
"  situation."  While  waiting,  and  enjoying 
the  delightful  shade  of  the  woods,  a  large 
number  of  the  men  were  hospitably  enter 
tained  by  Mr.  B.'s  lady -and  amiable  daughter, 
although  they  were  strong  Union  people. 
At  noon  the  scouting-party  returned,  and  the 
order  was  given  to  "  mount  your  horses." 
We  then  moved  farther  down  the  river,  to  a 
private  ford,  one  mile  from  town,  the  bat 
talion  halting  some  two  hundred  yards  from 
the  river,  in  the  woods.  Sharpshooters  and 
"  long-range "  guns  were  ordered  "to  the 
front,"  and  skirmishing  across  the  river  com- 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  213 

menced,  Colonel  Mosby  superintending  and 
participating  himself  in  the  luxury.  The 
enemy,  apprehending  an  attack  on  this 
stronghold,  had  increased  the  garrison  at 
this  place,  and  thrown  up  a  very  formidable 
earthwork  on  a  knoll  of  ground  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  village,  with  a  canal  and  river 
between  us,  in  which  fifty  resolute  men  could 
have  kept  at  bay,  and  even  repulsed,  at  least 
one  thousand  cavalry,  after  the  bridge  across 
the  canal  was  torn  up.  This  fort  commanded 
the  river  up  and  down  for  miles.  The 
enemy's  cavalry  (about  one  hundred),  com 
manded  by  Captain  Keyes,  were  stationed 
half  a  mile  in  the  rear  of  the  town,  while 
their  infantry,  some  five  hundred  in  number, 
were  distributed  on  the  side  of  the  mountains 
for  a  mile  up  the  river,  and  kept  up  a  very 
brisk  firing,  without  inflicting  any  injury  to 
our  men. 

While  this  sharpshooting  was  going  on, 
Lieutenant  Sam  Chapman  moved  his  piece 
of  artillery  up  a  high  hill  directly  opposite 
the  town,  and  screened  from  the  sight  of  the 
enemy,  by  the  thick  undergrowth,  part  of 
Company  C  supporting  it.  Some  of  the 
enemy  were  having  a  4th  of  July  dinner  on  a 


214  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

canal-boat.  The  dinner  was  over,  and  refresh 
ments  were  being  served.  The  sun  was  a 
little  past  meridian;  and  they  seemed,  to  be 
enjoying  themselves  so  much,  that  it  looked 
like  a  pity  to  break  up  their  u  sociable  "  in 
such  an  unceremonious  manner.  But  the 
view  of  the  enemy  by  the  gallant  and  impet 
uous  Chapman  aroused  that  inordinate  desire 
in  him  to  engage  them  whenever  and  wher 
ever  he  could.  Placing  his  gun  in  position, 
he  determined  to  fire  a  salute.  The  salute 
was  fired,  and  the  shell  exploded  under  the 
dinner-table  on  the  boat.  A  panic  ensued 
in  the  town,  which  soon  extended  to  the  gar 
rison.  The  cavalry  tore  up  the  bridge  across 
the  canal,  and  retreated  to  Frederick  City, 
while  the  infantry  dropped  their  guns,  and 
sought  refuge  in  the  mountains,  some  conceal 
ing  themselves  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks, 
with  the  impression  on  their  minds  that  the 
whole  of  Longstreet's  corps  was  after  them. 
Companies  A,  B,  and  D  charged  across  the 
river,  while  the  sharpshooters  waded  across 
with  water  up  to  their  armpits.  The  scene 
was  new  to  me,  and  the  most  exciting  I  ever 
experienced  in  my  life.  A  few  of  the 
enemy's  sharpshooters  continued  to  fire  on  us 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  215 

while  crossing,  without  injury  to  any  one. 
The  Potomac  was  very  broad  at  the  place  we 
crossed,  but  the  Maryland  shore  was  soon 
reached,  when  our  course  was  directed  down 
the  tow-path  to  the  town,  each  man  spurring 
on  his  horse,  and  trying  to  be  the  first  in  the 
place. 

On  reaching  the  bridge  across  the  canal,  it 
was  found  that  the  enemy  had  removed  the 
flooring.  A  few  minutes'  time  was  all  that 
was  required  to  replace  it  with  boards  from 
an  old  warehouse  on  the  river-banks,  which 
the  enemy  occupied  as  quarters.  In  their 
hasty  retreat  from  it,  they  forgot  their  colors, 
which  we  secured.  A  temporary  floor  to  the 
bridge  being  laid  by  this  time,  over  the  boys 
dashed,  led  by  Wirt  Ashby,  a  relation  of  the 
heroic  and  lamented  Turner  Ashby.  The 
telegraph  wires  were  cut  to  prevent  commu 
nication  with  the  enemy  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
On  the  men  dashed  to  the  enemy's  camps, 
which,  after  a  critical  examination  "for 
arms,"  were  burnt.  Captain  Richards,  with 
eight  men,  pursued  the  cavalry  five  miles 
beyond  the  town  towards  Frederick,  but 
could  not  overtake  them,  when  he  ordered  us 
back  to  the  command.  Passing  through  the 


216  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

burning  camps,  the  boys,  after  collecting 
what  relics  they  wanted,  pushed  on  back  to 
town.  Such  an  exciting  and  laughable  scene 
few  have  ever  witnessed  or  enjoyed.  They 
had  secured  a  huge  pound-cake,  which  had 
been  prepared  by  some  ladies,  who  were  to 
give  the  officers  of  the  garrison  an  entertain 
ment  that  evening. 

The  history  of  this  cake  is  as  follows  :  The 
officers  of  the  garrison  had  signified  to  some 
of  their  lady  friends  their  desire  and  inten 
tion  of  celebrating  the  Fourth  of  July  in  a 
becoming  manner  ;  so  their  lady  friends  went 
to  work  and  prepared  a  monster  cake  for  the 
occasion.  This  cake  was  moulded  in  the 
form  of  a  spread  eagle,  the  mould  being  made 
in  Boston,  and  measured  twenty-five  feet 
from  the  tip  of  its  bill  to  the  tip  of  its  tail. 
It  was  a  complete  eagle  in  all  its  parts.  It 
had  glass  eyes,  talons,  £c.,  &c.,  and  in  the 
baking  of  it,  which  occupied  three  days  and 
nights,  it  was  burnt  (intentionally  I  presume), 
so  that  it  looked  like  a  real  eagle.  But  the 
most  remarkable  thing  about  it  was,  that 
inside  of  it  there  was  some  machinery  that 
every  time  one  of  the  boys  thrust  his  sabre 
into  the  eagle  to  cut  off  a  piece,  the  bird 


MOSDY  AND  HIS  MEN.  217 

would  scream.  What  their  idea  was  in 
inserting  this  instrument  into  this  spread- 
eagle  cake,  I  have  never -been  able  to  learn  or 
conceive.  I  inquired  diligently  of  the  resi 
dents  of  the  place,  but  they  would  give  us  no 
satisfaction.  Colonel  Mosby  would  have 
brought  it  across  the  river,  and  sent  it  to 
Richmond ;  but  the  enemy  had  destroyed  all 
the  boats,  so  the  boys  concluded  to  take  it  to 
pieces  ;  which,  being  done,  it  was  with  great 
difficulty  got  across  the  river  in  the  evening 
by  means  of  a  raft.  A  six-horse  team  belong 
ing  to  Mr.  S.  was  pressed  into  service,  the 
cake  put  into  it,  and  started  for  Fauquier 
County.  A  guard  of  five  men  accompanied 
the  wagon. 

While  in  camp  on  Goose  Creek,  the  second 
night  they  were  out,  the  guard  got  drunk  on 
"  blockade,"  and  all  of  them  lay  down  and 
went  to  sleep.  The  driver  being  a  strong 
Union  man,  and  having  conceived  the  idea  he 
would  be  made  a  hero,  if  he  could  save  what 
was  left  of  the  great  American  bird,  availed 
himself  of  the  opportunity,  and  drove  his  load 

in  the  night  to  a  Mr. 's  farm,  in  London 

County,  situated  on  Goose  Creek.  Securing 
four  of  Mr. 's  most  reliable  colored  ser- 

19 


218  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

vants,  lie  secreted  his  precious  load  in  one 
of  those  safe  places  which  abound  on  that 
stream,  and  which  are  known  only  by  those 
patriotic  and  loyal  colored  men,  and  started 
back  with  his  team.  Sunrise  next  morning, 
found  him  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  on  the 
banks  of  the  classic  Potomac.  This  Union 
driver  kept  the  part  he  had  played  a  pro 
found  secret,  until  General ,  occupied 

the   valley,  when    he  divulged   his  secret  to 

him.      On    General    -'s    retreat     from 

Washington,  a  portion  of  his  wagon  -  train 
and  eight  hundred  prisoners  crossed  the  Blue 
Ridge  mountains  at  Ashby's  Gap.  This  por 
tion  of  his  army  was  pursued  by  General 
Durfea,  with  two  thousand  five  hundred  cav 
alry.  After  occupying  the  Gap  three  days, 
Durfea  fell  back  to  Snickersville,  where  Gen 
eral  Wright  was  encamped  with  a  division 
of  the  Union  army.  On  their  march  to 

Wright,  they  passed  by  Mr. 's  house,  and 

found  these  colored  Union  citizens,  who  con 
ducted  them  to  the  spot  where  the  treasure 
was  hid,  and  carried  it  off  with  them.  But 
the  fates  seemed  opposed  to  having  the 
remnants  of  the  bird  ever  reaching  the  shores 
of  Maryland  again.  Notwithstanding  its 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  219 

long  captivity,  it  retained  signs  of  life  still  ; 
and  as  it  approached  the  soil  on  which  the 
stars  and  stripes  had  never  ceased  to  wave, 
those  symptoms  of  vitality  increased.  An 
escort  was  sent  with  it;  while  crossing  the 
Shenandoah  River  at  Rock  Ford,  the  wagon 
upset,  and  the  load  was  precipitated  into  the 
river.  By  an  eye-witness  of  the  scene,  I  was 
told  that  it  was  beyond  description.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  the  greatest  confusion  prevailed. 
Every  one  wanted  his  own  plan  adopted  to 
save  the  bird,  and  before  any  one  that  the 
men  suggested  could  be  adopted,  to  their 
utmost  dismay  and  horror  the  bird  gave  one 
shriek,  and  then  sunk  to  rise  no  more.  I 
never  learned  whether  or  no  it  was  recovered  ; 
the  presumption  is  that  it  was  not. 

But  I  find  myself  digressing  from  my 
narrative.  The  boys  enjoyed  the  spread- 
eagle  cake  and  "  blockade  "  hugely,  and  many 
a  toast  was  drunk,  "  hoping  the  Yankees 
would  soon  give  us  another  thing  as  good  as 
this."  The  contents  of  five  stores  were  appro 
priated  to  themselves  by  the  men.  Some, 
''  to  make  it  pay,"  doffed  their  hats,  and 
substituted  a  dozen  Shaker  bonnets,  &c.,  &c. 
One  fellow  (Sam),  the  very  personification 


220  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

of  a  partisan  ranger,  seeing  the  excellent 
"  blockade  "  poured  into  the  streets,  thought 
it  a  wanton  destruction.  He  conceived  the 
idea  of  carrying  some  of  it  to  Fauquier  in  his 
sack,  which  was  already  filled  to  overflowing 
with  ladies'  and  gentlemen's  dress  and  fancy 
goods,  tea,  sugar,  coffee,  &c.  Taking  this 
sack  and  putting  the  mouth  of  it  to  the  spigot 
in  a  barrel  of  very  fine  "  old  rye,"  he  began  to 
fill  it.  After  drawing  several  gallons,  a  friend 
informed  him  of  his  mistake.  But  it  was  too 
late ;  the  whole  contents  of  the  sack  were 
saturated  with  t:  spirits."  Abandoning  that 
one,  he  picked  up  another,  which  was  soon 
filled.  Only  a  few  prisoners  were  captured 
here,  and  they  escaped,  while  the  men  "  went 
through  "  the  stores.  After  all  the  men  had 
provided  themselves  with  what  their  necessi 
ties  required,  orders  came  to  recross  the  river. 
In  crossing  the  river  the  men  presented  a 
novel  appearance,  being  completely  enveloped 
in  goods,  with  nothing  visible  of  them  but 
their  heads  and  horses. 

After  the  crossing  had  been  accomplished 
safely,  we  moved  back  from  the  river  one  and 
a  half  miles,  and  bivouacked  on  the  Hon. 
James  Mason's  farm,  and  on  the  road  leading 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  221 

to  Leesburg.  That  night  three  wagons  were 
pressed  into  service,  and  our  plunder  sent 
back  to  Fauquier.  While  the  men  were  load 
ing  these  wagons,  the  owner  of  one  of  the 
stores  we  had  gone  through,  came  up  to 
Colonel  Mosby,  who  on  certain  representa 
tions  made  to  him,  gave  him  permission  to 
take  from  the  men  all  goods  that  had  his 
mark.  Two  of  the  wagons  had  already  started 
out,  which  he  reported  to  Colonel  Mosby ; 
whereupon,  Mosby  gave  him  an  order  per 
mitting  him  to  proceed  to  Fauquier  County 
unmolested,  and  search,  and  take  his  goods 
wherever  he  found  them.  A  large  quantity 
of  his  goods  were  taken  out  of  the  lot  in 
camp,  and  the  men  turned  around  and  bought 
them  at  the  owner's  own  prices,  just  in  the 
same  manner  as  a  person  would  go  into  a 
store  to  make  a  purchase.  In  Fauquier, 
what  goods  the  merchant  found  were  carried 
to  Middleburg,  and  sold  to  the  citizens.  In 
the  opinion  of  all  rational  men,  this  statement 
will  effectually  refute  the  charge  the  enemy 
made  against  us  of  being  a  pack  of  robbers. 
The  next  day  the  enemy  scouted  down  to  the 
Point,  to  see  what  was  done.  They  ap 
proached  the  town  very  cautiously,  and  find- 

19* 


222  "  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

ing  no  "  Johnnies  "  in  the  place,  they  became 
careless.  The  officer  in  command  detailed  a 
squad  to  go  up  the  river  to  the  abutments  of 
a  burnt  bridge,  and  reconnoitre. 

The  eagle  eye  of  Mosby,  having  from  the 
"  lookout "  seen  them  approach  the  town,  he 
took  a  few  picked  men,  and  reached  the  river 
before  they  did.  With  him  he  had  a  young 
man  named  Martin,  from  King  and  Queen 
County,  Virginia,  who  promised  to  vie  with 
Colonel  Mosby  in  deeds  of  daring,  &c.  On 
the  battle-field  he  was  the  bravest  of  the 
brave,  and  in  the  charge  his  impetuosity 
knew  no  bounds.  Being  a  splendid  shot,  he 
was  always  in  the  front  with  Colonel  Mosby ; 
and  when  the  charge  was  sounded,  his  soul 
seemed  fired ;  and  away  he  would  go,  fre 
quently  ahead  of  his  commander,  light  into 
the  enemy,  firing  right  and  left,  every  shot 
telling ;  and  when  his  ammunition  was  ex 
hausted,  he  has  been  frequently  seen  using 
the  butt-end  of  his  pistols  over  the  heads  of 
the  enemy,  and  always  with  telling  effect. 
The  keen  eye  of  this  young  man,  as  he  ap 
proached  the  river,  observed  in  the  distance 
on  the  opposite  side,  several  of  the  enemy 
behind  one  of  the  abutments  of  the  burnt 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  2'23 

bridge.  He  snatched  a  Sharp's  rifle  from  one 
of  his  companions,  and  seeking  a  good  posi 
tion  opposite  the  abutment,  he  spied  a  Yankee 
taking  sight  at  one  of  his  party,  while  only  a 
few  inches  of  his  head  could  be  seen.  Colo 
nel  Mosby  was  standing  by,  when  Martin 
asked  if  he  saw  "  that  fellow  on  the  other 
side  behind  the  abutment."  Before  Mosby 
could  reply,  the  crack  of  the  rifle  was  heard, 
and  the  head  suddenly  disappeared.  The 
enemy  retreated  in  great  haste,  Martin 
mounted  his  horse,  dashed  across  the  river, 
went  to  the  abutment,  and  lo !  there  lay  one 
of  the  enemy  dead,  with  his  gun  cocked  ready 
to  fire  at  his  Johnny ;  but  another  Johnny 
was  too  quick  for  him.  The  fellow  was  shot 
as  if  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  had  been  placed 
to  his  head.  Martin  brought  his  gun  and 
accoutrements  to  the  Virginia  side  of  the 
river,  and  did  good  service  with  it  afterwards. 
For  this  piece  of  service,  Colonel  Mosby  com 
plimented  Martin  before  the  whole  command. 
After  this  affair  the  enemy  retreated  from  the 
river,  towards  Frederick,  Maryland. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 


MAJOR  FORBES  "COMES  FOR  WOOL  AND  GOES  HOME  SHORN"  — MOS- 
BY'S  LIFE  SAVED  BY  TOM  RICHARDS  —  SOLDIERLY  BEARING  OF 
MAJOR  FORBES. 


THE  battalion  was  formed  at  three  o'clock 
P.M.  on  the  5th,  and  moved  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Leesburg,  with  the  view  of  crossing 
the  Potomac  again  at  Muddy  Branch.  The 
battalion,  numbering  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men  (the  rest  having  flanked  out  and 
gone  home),  wefat  into  camp  that  night 
within  five  miles  of  Leesburg.  At  nine 
o'clock,  after  all  had  fed  their  horses  and 
lain  down  to  sleep,  scouts  came  in  and  re 
ported  that  "  Leesburg  was  full  of  Yankees, 
who  were  looking  after  us."  Horses  were 
resaddled  in  one  moment,  and  mounted.  Our 
present  position  being  considered  unsafe, 
Colonel  Mosby  moved  up  across  the  moun 
tains  by  a  private  road  to  a  point  one  mile 

(224) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  225 

above  Waterford,  and  remained  there  the 
rest  of  the  night.  During  the  night  scouts 
were  sent  out  to  ascertain  the  strength  of  the 
enemy,  and  who  they  were.  They  returned 
by  sunrise  next  day,  and  we  broke  up  camp 
at  seven  o'clock,  going  directly  to  Leesburg. 
Arriving  there  at  nine  o'clock  A.M.,  we  found 
the  enemy  two  hundred  and  fifty  strong, 
under  the  command  of  Major  Forbes,  of 
Boston.  He  had  left  the  place  about  one 
hour  before,  threatening  to  annihilate  Mosby 
if  he  came  across  him,  saying  that  they  came 
out  expressly  to  meet  him,  and  had  been 
looking  two  days  without  finding  him.  While 
in  Leesburg,  Colonel  Mosby  ascertained  that 
they  were  picked  men  from  three  regiments 
of  cavalry  stationed  at  Falls  Church,  Anan- 
dale,  and  Fairfax  Court  House,  and  under 
the  command  of  Major  Forbes,  "  fighting 
major,"  as  Colonel  Lowell  used  to  call  him. 

Colonel  Mosby  determined  to  follow  him 
up,  and,  if  he  could  overtake  him,  to  offer 
him  battle,  expressing,  at  the  same  time,  a 
desire  to  meet  him  at  or  near  Mrs.  Skinner's, 
below  Aldie,  on  the  Alexandria  Turnpike. 
Meeting  with  no  detention  in  Leesburg,  we 
moved  rapidly  to  Ball's  Mill,  on  Goose  Creek, 


226  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

a  great  rendezvous  for  the  enemy  when  scout 
ing  up  to  our  Confederacy.  Here  we  ex 
pected  to  meet  them.  Mosby,  disposing  his 
men  to  the  best  advantage,  waited  a  few 
minutes  for  them.  No  enemy  making  their 
appearance,  we  struck  for  the  turnpike  below 
Mrs.  Skinner's.  Companies  A  and  B  were 
sent  off,  under  the  gallant  Richards,  by  one 
road,  while  Mosby  took  Companies  C  and  D 
with  him.  The  turnpike  was  struck  one 
mile  below  Mrs.  Skinner's,  by  both  squads  at 
the  same  time.  Colonel  Mosby,  with  John 
Waller  and  Munson,  had  preceded  his  men, 
and  found  the  enemy  feeding  their  horses  at 
the  very  place  he  wanted  to  meet  them,  in  a 
large  field  one  mile  square.  Mosby  was  seen 
by  the  enemy's  pickets,  who  gave  the  alarm. 
They  soon  bridled  their  horses,  and  formed 
in  line  of  battle  across  the  turnpike,  before 
Mosby 's  men  arrived.  Mosby,  with  six  men, 
charged  their  advanced  guard,  which  fell 
back  to  their  main  column.  He  then  fell 
back  himself,  and  formed  his  men  in  the 
turnpike.  The  artillery  was  then  brought 
up,  and  one  shell  fired  into  their  ranks, 
which  broke  them.  Simultaneous  with  the 
firing  of  the  gun,  the  charge  was  ordered, 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  227 

and  before  the  enemy  could  re-form,  we  were 
into  them.  Major  Forbes,  the  bravest  Fed 
eral  officer  we  ever  met,  tried  to  rally  his 
men  in  the  field  on  the  right  of  the  road, 
three  times  failing  in  his  efforts.  His  last 
effort  was  a  beautiful  retreat  behind  a  fence 
which  stretched  across  the  field.  Drawing 
his  sabre,  he  cried,  "  Rally  around  your  major 
for  the  last  time,  and  repulse  them."  But  so 
impetuous  was  our  charge,  that  it  was  beyond 
a  possibility  for  them  to  rally.  Some,  how 
ever,  did  so,  and  fought  gallantly.  Our  men 
closed  in  on  them,  and  a  hand-to-hand  fight 
ensued. 

It  was  here  that  Mosby  would  have  been 
cut  in  two  by  Forbes's  sabre,  but  for  the  brave 
Tom  Richards,  who  warded  off  the  blow  with 
his  pistol,  and  received  a  severe  flesh  wound 
on  the  shoulder,  from  Forbes's  sabre.  Forbes, 
seeing  no  chances  of  escape,  surrendered  like 
a  brave  soldier.  Then  ensued  a  fight  of  the 
most  exciting  character.  The  enemy  were 
armed  with  Spencer's  seven-shooters,  pistols, 
and  sabres,  while  we  had  nothing  but  pistols ; 
and  this  compelled  us  to  close  in  on  them. 
The  enemy  retreated  precipitately  by  the 
Braddock  Road,  pursued  by  us  for  six  miles, 


228  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

they  pouring  into  us  Mr.  Spencer's  unpalatable 
pills  the  whole  distance,  but  without  injury  to 
any  one.  The  enemy  fought  like  soldiers, 
and  ought  to  have  engaged  in  a  better  cause  ; 
but  when  first  broken,  we  would  close  in  on 
them,  and  afford  them  no  opportunity  to 
rally. 

This  was  a  proud  day  for  Mosby.  He  had 
vanquished,  in  fact  annihilated,  with  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  men,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
men  picked  out  of  three  regiments  for  their 
bravery  and  fighting  qualities,  who  had  been 
out  three  days  looking  for  Mosby.  Colonel 
Mosby  had  one  man  (Smallwood)  killed  and 
three  wounded.  The  enemy  lost  fifteen 
killed,  including  two  commissioned  officers ; 
on  the  field,  twenty-five  wounded  and  sixty 
prisoners,  including  Major  Forbes  and  two 
commissioned  officers.  Seventy-five  horses 
were  also  captured  and  distributed  amongst 
the  men.  The  wounded  were  kindly  cared 
for  by  Mrs.  Skinner  until  next  day,  when 
Colonel  Lowell  came  up  with  ambulances 
and  removed  them  to  camp.  Night  coming 
on,  we  moved  up  the  turnpike,  and  went  into 
camp.  Next  morning  at  sunrise  we  passed 
through  Middleburg ;  thence  to  Piedmont,  on 


MOSBY  AND  UIS  MEN.  229 

the  Manassas  Gap  Railroad,  where  there  was 
a  division  of  the  property,  and  a  detail  made 
to  carry  the  prisoners  to  Richmond. 

Mosby  was  not  unmindful  of  Tom  Rich- 
ards's  endangering  his  own  life  to  save  that 
of  his  colonel.  The  Secretary  of  War  at 
Richmond  had  written  to  Mosby  for  an  officer 
to  go  on  the  Northern  Neck  to  break  up  the 
blockade-running  carried  on  in  that  quarter. 
Mosby  replied  he  had  "  none  to  spare  ;  but 
the  bearer  of  this  is  a  young  man  who  is 
every  way  worthy  of  any  trust  or  confidence 
you  may  be  pleased  to  repose  in  him."  Rich 
ards,  in  due  time,  presented  this  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  who  appointed  him  captain. 
Men  were  given  him,  and  he  was  sent  to  the 
Neck,  rendering  there  good  service. 

In  this  engagement  with  Forbes,  there 
were  acts  of  heroism  performed,  which,  but 
for  fear  of  making  invidious  distinctions,  I 
would  present  to  my  readers.  There  was 
one,  however,  of  which  I  cannot  refrain  from 
speaking.  It  was  the  conduct  of  young 
Martin,  who,  having  his  horse  shot  under 
him  early  in  the  action,  pursued  the  enemy 
afoot,  and  at  dark  returned  to  camp,  mounted 

on  a  fine  horse,  with  one  prisoner. 
20 


CHAPTER    XXV. 


STRINGENT  ORDERS  AGAINST  PLUNDERING  —  EARLY'S  APPROACH  TO 
WASHINGTON  — CONSTERNATION  THERE  —  EXPLOITS  OF  CHAPMAN 
—  ORGANIZATION  OF  COMPANY  E  — THE  POTOMAC  RECROSSED  — A 
BRILLIANT  FEAT. 


ON  the  12th  of  July,  Captain  William  H. 
Chapman,  with  one  hundred  men,  crossed 
the  Potomac  River  at  Muddy  Branch.  Having 
burned  the  cavalry  camp  there,  he  occupied 
Adamstown.  '  On  account  of  the  behavior 
of  the  men  at  Point  of  Rocks,  Captain  Chap 
man  issued  stringent  orders  against  the  men's 
plundering  the  stores  in  this  place.  Finding 
no  enemy  here,  he  recrossed  the  Potomac, 
and  returned  to  Fauquier  with  a  few  govern 
ment  horses. 

Between  the  1st  and  18th  of  July  this  year, 
important  events  had  occurred  on  the  soil  of 
Maryland.  Generals  Early  and  Breckenridge 
had  crossed  the  Potomac,  dispersed  the  Union 
troops  and  militia  under  General  Wallace  at 

(230) 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  231 

Frederick  City,  and  were  marching  trium 
phantly  on  Washington.  His  orders  were 
to  only  threaten  the  place  ;  but  Early  could 
have  captured  the  city  as  easily  as  threaten 
it ;  and  had  General  Lee  been  advised 
of  the  strength  of  the  garrison,  I  am  sure 
he  would  not  have  hesitated  one  moment  as 
to  the  orders  he  would  have  given  Early. 
Almost  every  available  soldier  had  been  sent 
to  Grant ;  and  I  am  correctly  informed,  two 
thousand  five  hundred  regular  troops  could 
not  have  been  brought  into  action.  The 
greatest  consternation  prevailed  in  the  Capitol 
of  the  nation.  President  Lincoln  had  fled  to 
Philadelphia;  Stanton  and  the  other  members 
of  the  Cabinet  were  on  a  monitor  in  the 
Potomac,  ready  to  escape  down  the  river ; 
and  our  Southern  friends  confidently  ex 
pected  the  Rebels  to  come  in  and  take  the 
place.  Early,  however,  confined  himself  to 
carrying  out  General  Lee's  orders.  He  made 
a  demonstration  on  their  works  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  city,  threw  a  few  shells  into 
Seventh  Street,  and  retired.  Had  he  pushed 
on  after  the  engagement  at  Frederick  City, 
transcended  General  Lee's  orders  by  going 
into  the  city,  and  destroyed  the  public  build- 


232  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

ings  and  captured  some  prominent  and  lead 
ing  officials,  he  might  have  terminated  the 
war.  But  no*  he  had  executed  his  superior's 
order  to  the  letter,  and  retired  without  oppo 
sition,  bringing  with  him  large  numbers  of 
horses,  mules,  cattle,  £c.,  and  several  thou 
sand  prisoners.  He  recrossed  the  Potomac 
below  Berlin,  and  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains 
at  Snicker's  Gap,  with  his  army,  sending  his 
prisoners,  wagon  -  trains,  and  cattle  up  to 
Ashby's  Gap,  to  cross  Friday  night. 

On  the  18th,  we  had  a  meeting  at  Upper- 
ville,  and  moved  off  at  noon.  Early  had  been 
pursued,  and  the  enemy's  army,  under  Wright, 
was  already  at  Snickersville.  The  afternoon 
of  the  18th,  the  enemy's  cavalry,  three  thou 
sand  strong,  under  Durfay,  dashed  into  Upper- 
ville.  It  was  garrisoned  by  five  hundred  men; 
the  rest  pressed  on  up  the  turnpike  to  Paris 
and  Ashby's  Gap  that  night,  which  points 
they  occupied.  Camping  that  night  in  the 
woods,  next  morning  we  entered  Middleburg. 
Then,  Colonel  Mosby  sent  Captain  A.  E. 
Richards  with  Company  B,  to  Fairfax  County, 
to  engage  a  party  of  the  enemy  scouting  up 
every  day  to  Thoroughfare  Gap ;  Companies 
A  and  D,  Captain  Montjoy,  he  took  to  operate 

- 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  233 

on  the  grade  between  Leesburg  and  Snickers- 
ville ;  while  Company  C,  under  William 
Chapman,  went  to  Ashby's  Gap,  to  operate 
there. 

The  enemy  had  tried  to  force  a  passage 
across  the  Shenandoah  at  Castleman's  Ferry, 
but  were  repulsed  with  terrible  loss.  Durfay 
had  likewise  attempted  a  passage  of  the  same 
river  at  Berry's  Ferry,  three  times,  under  a 
galling  fire  from  Imboden's  men  behind  some 
light  breastworks  on  the  valley  side,  and 
fared  even  worse  than  Wright  did  lower 
down  at  Castleman's  Ferry.  Durfay  lost  five 
hundred  men  killed  and  wounded,  and  the 
river  was  almost  dammed  up  with  dead  men 
and  horses.  Chapman,  who  was  in  the  Gap, 
was  not  idle  while  this  was  going  on.  He 
was  continually  firing  into  and  harassing  the 
enemy,  picking  off  one  man  here,  and  another 
there,  until  Durfay,  imagining  Early  had  sent 
a  large  force  around  to  attack  him  in  the  rear, 
sounded  the  retreat.  Chapman  suddenly 
concentrating  his  men  (only  sixty)  dashed 
between  their  advance  and  their  picket  of 
sixty  men,  posted  in  the  Gap  at  the  old 
Poplar  tree,  swept  them  off  down  the  moun 
tain,  through  Paris,  to  a  safe  place  beyond 


i&' 

20" 


234  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Semper's,  with  General  Durfay  and  two  thou 
sand  cavalry  after  them.  Durfay,  however, 
pursued  him  no  farther  than  Paris,  when 
they  moved  down  the  turnpike,  and  rejoined 
the  army  at  Snickersville. 

Chapman,  in  this  affair,  captured  forty 
horses  and  thirty  prisoners ;  the  rest  jumped 
behind  the  stone  fence,  and  hid  until  the  main 
column  came  up.  Chapman  lost  one  man, 
his  Orderly  Sergeant,  who  wras  thrown  from 
his  horse,  and  injured  so  severely  that  he  died 
a  few  days  afterwards.  Richards,  with  Com 
pany  13,  did  nothing  of  consequence.  The 
scouting  to  Thoroughfare  Gap  had  been 
discontinued.  John  Atkins,  Sam  Alexander, 
Walter  Whaley,  and  two  others,  while  scout 
ing  near  Union  Mills,  met  with  a  squad  (ten) 
of  the  enemy,  captured  five,  including  one 
lieutenant,  with  their  horses,  &c.  Returning 
to  command,  Richards  ordered  us  to  return  to 
Fauquier.  Mosby,  with  Companies  A  and  D, 
captured  one  hundred  and  two  Infantry,  and 
sent  them  to  Richmond. 

On  the  28th  of  this  month,  Company  E  was 
organized,  Sam  Chapman  as  Captain,  Font 
Beatty  (Mosby 's  confidential  friend),  First 
Lieutenant,  Ben  Palmer,  of  Richmond,  Third 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  235 

Lieutenant,  and  the  impetuous  Martin,  Second 
Lieutenant,  all  elected  for  their  daring  and 
fighting  qualities.  After  the  organization  of 
Company  E,  the  battalion  started  for  Mary 
land  again.  Crossing  the  Potomac  at  Nolen's 
Ferry  without  opposition,  Mosby  pushed  on 
to  Adamstown,  occupied  it,  and  captured 
twenty  prisoners  and  thirty  horses,  again 
refusing  to  let  the  men  plunder  the  stores. 
Kecrossing  the  river  with  his  prisoners,  he 
left  Company  E,  on  the  Maryland  side,  to 
scout  and  report  to  him.  On  their  return  to 
the  rest  of  the  command  at  night,  Chapman 
was  attacked  by  the  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry, 
and  his  men  retreated  in  confusion.  Lieu 
tenant  Beatty,  with  six  men,  formed  a  rear 
guard,  and  by  charging  the  enemy  and  falling 
back  a  little,  and  recharging,  succeeded  in 
getting  his  men  across  the  river,  all  safe  but 
one,  who,  being  a  little  tight,  fell  off  his  horse 
and  was  captured. 

Mosby,  having  got  all  his  men  across  the 
Potomac  again,  moved  off  the  next  day  to  the 
Valley,  crossing  the  Mountains  at  Snicker's 
Gap,  and  sent  William  Chapman  back  to 
Fauquier  with  prisoners,  and  ordered  him  to 
bring  every  man  back,  with  the  alternative  of 


236  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

going  into  the  regular  service.  Chapman 
brought  back  with  him,  the  next  day,  thirty 
men,  and  met  Mosby  four  miles  above 
Charles  town.  Waiting  there  several  hours, 
and  no  enemy  making  their  appearance, 
Mosby  ordered  his  men  back  to  Fauquier. 
Walter  Frankland,  our  quartermaster,  took 
twenty  men  with  him  to  thrash  wheat  in 
the  valley,  for  the  battalion.  The  enemy, 
during  their  occupation  of  Snicker's  Gap, 
tried  to  see  how  much  damage  and  suffering 
they  could  bring  upon  the  people  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  the  Gap.  Their  horses  and  cattle 
were  turned  loose  in  the  cornfields,  gardens 
were  destroyed,  poultry,  pigs,  and  cows 
killed,  and  not  a  thing  left  to  the  helpless 
people. 

On  the  6th  of  August,  Mosby  took  thirty- 
five  men  from  Company  A  to  Fairfax,  and 
accomplished  one  of  the  most  brilliant  feats 
of  the  war.  While  scouting  with  two  or 
three  men  (the  rest  being  hid  in  the  woods) 
he  ran  into  one  hundred  and  five  Yankees, 
between  Fairfax  Court  House  and  Fairfax 
Station,  on  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Rail 
road.  The  enemy,  suspecting  it  was  Mosby, 
mounted  their  horses  and  formed  in  an  open 


MOSBY  AND  HIS   MEN.  237 

field.  Mosby  sent  for  his  men  and  charged 
them.  The  enemy  reserved  their  fire  until 
he  was  within  forty  yards  of  them.  They 
then  opened  on  him  with  carbines.  This 
fire  was  harmless,  being  too  high.  After 
the  first  volley,  seeing  none  of  their  foe 
fall,  they  broke  and  retreated  in  great  con 
fusion,  with  Mosby  after  them.  Ten  were 
killed,  including  one  captain,  and  twenty 
prisoners  were  taken,  besides  twenty-seven 
horses,  which  were  brought  away ;  and, 
strange  to  say,  Mosby  and  his  men  sustained 
no  loss.  A  few  hours,  however,  before  the 
engagement,  one  man  was  bushwhacked,  re 
ceiving  a  slight  wound. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 


CAPTURES    AT    BERRYVILLE  —  NEW    UNIFORMS  —  LIEUTENANT   GLASS- 
COCK  CAPTUHES  TWENTY  MEN  —  PLANS   DEFEATED. 


IN  compliance  with  orders,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  men  reported  at  Rectortown,  on  the 
12th  of  August,  for  duty.  Two  mountain  how 
itzers,  presented  to  Colonel  Mosby  by  General 
Stuart,  were  taken  along  for  an  emergency. 
They  moved  off  at  noon,  passing  through 
Snicker's  Gap,  and  fording  the  Shenandoah 
River  at  Castleman's  Ferry  just  at  dark. 
From  there  our  course  was  directed  to  the  vi 
cinity  of  Berryville.  Concealing  the  men  in 
the  woods,  four  miles  from  the  town,  and  one 
mile  from  the  turnpike  leading  to  Charles- 
town,  Mosby,  John  Russell,  and  two  others 
went  out  to  pike  to  see  what  was  going  on. 
In  a  few  minutes,  an  ambulance  drawn  by 
four  mules,  with  a  guard  of  two  men,  ap- 

(238) 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  239 

preached  them.  Mosby,  concluding  he  might 
possibly  learn  something  from  them  regard 
ing  the  wagon-trains,  rode  up  to  them,  and 
before  letting  them  know  who  he  was,  in 
quired  how  long  since  his  train  had  passed, 
and  would  camp  near  Berryville.  The  en 
emy,  regarding  him  as  a  Union  officer, 
promptly  replied  that  it  had  just  passed  up. 
Demanding  their  surrender,  and  sending  them 
back  to  the  command,  he  and  Russell  pushed 
on  to  ascertain  the  whereabouts  of  the  train. 
One  mile  from  Berryville  they  found  the 
train  in  camp,  with  a  guard  of  one  regiment 
of  infantry  and  five  hundred  cavalry.  The 
infantry,  however,  were  in  Berryville,  and  the 
cavalry  two  and  a  half  miles  beyond. 

Returning  to  his  men  on  the  morning  of 
the  13th,  at  daylight,  Mosby  moved  to  make 
the  attack.  Reaching  their  encampment  at 
sunrise,  just  as  they  were  breaking  it,  he  took 
Company  A  with  him  to  disperse  one  hun 
dred  infantry  at  the  head  of  the  train ;  A.  E. 
Richards,  with  Company  B,  was  to  attack  the 
train  on  the  left ;  Company  D  supported  the 
artillery,  and  Company  C  was  to  secure  the 
plunder.  The  signal  for  attack  was  the  first 
shot,  which  fell  into  a  group  of  teams  and 


240  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

men  standing  about  midway  of  the  train. 
Companies  A  and  B,  to  reach  the  point  from 
which  they  were  to  attack,  were  compelled 
to  pass  in  full  view  of  the  train  for  half  a 
mile,  and  the  artillery  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to 
two  hundred  yards  of  the  train  for  a  position. 
The  enemy  made  no  preparations  to  resist  an. 
attack,  thinking  we  were  their  own  men  try 
ing  to  play  a  trick  on  them.  The  artillery 
fired  one  shot,  which  fell  short  by  one  hun 
dred  yards.  Still  they  all  stood  gazing  at  our 
movement,  and  moved  not  a  step.  Another 
shot  was  fired  which  fell  and  exploded  in 
their  midst.  Then  came  the  charge  on  our 
side,  and  the  stampede  amongst  the  wagons, 
some  with  drivers,  others  without,  they  tak 
ing  refuge  behind  a  stone  fence  fifty  yards 
from  the  road.  The  infantry  retreated  and 
sought  refuge  in  a  church  in  the  suburbs  of 
Berry ville,  and  from  its  windows  opened  a 
galling  fire  on  Company  A,  which  compelled 
them  to  fall  back  to  the  train.  But  few  of 
the  wagons  escaped.  Five  hundred  mules, 
one  hundred  horses,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  head  of  cattle,  and  two  hundred  prisoners 
were  brought  away. 

The   train    belonged    to   the   Sixth  Army 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  241 

Corps,  and  in  it  was  the  baggage  of  all  its 
officers.  There  were  also  two  iron  chests 
filled  with  greenbacks,  to  pay  off  a  whole 
corps,  and  the  one  hundred  days'  men,  whose 
time  was  about  expiring.  That  we  did  not 
learn  until  we  had  left ;  and  even  had  we 
known  it  before,  I  doubt  very  much  whether 
it  would  have  done  us  any  good,  for  as  soon 
as  the  attack  was  made,  an  officer  in  charge 
of  the  chests  threw  them  out  of  the  wagon 
on  the  ground,  and  there  being  no  powder 
along  to  blow  them  open,  they  would  have 
been  the  means  of  some  of  our  men  being 
captured.  Had  the  boxes  remained  in  the 
wagon,  we  would  have  hitched  every  mule 
and  horse  in  the  train  to  it,  but  that  we  would 
have  got  them  out.  The  wagons  were  loaded 
with  commissary  stores  and  forage  ;  one  hun 
dred  of  them  were  burnt.  Before  the  match 
was  applied  to  the  wagons  containing  the 
officers'  baggage,  our  men  froze  on  the  valises, 
and  brought  them  away ;  and  after  our  return 
to  Fauquier,  the  officers  of  the  Sixth  Army 
Corps  would  have  enjoyed  seeing  our  boys 
swelling  in  their  new  uniforms,  which  had 
been  provided  for  them  with  so  much  ex 
pense  in  New  York, 
21 


242  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

In  this  engagement  Mosby  lost  two  killed, 
(Sergeant  Welby  Rector,  of  Company  A, 
and  private  — — -  Heddy,  of  Company  B,)  and 
one  wounded,  Ed  Rector,  who  was  wounded 
slightly,  but  painfully,  in  the  ankle.  The 
mules  were  turned  over  to  the  Confederate 
Government,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  head  of  the  cattle  were  presented  to 
General  Lee,  for  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  a  meeting  of  the 
command  was  held  at  Rector's  Cross  Roads, 
four  miles  from  Middleburg,  to  go  on  a  raid 
to  the  Valley  again.  At  three  o'clock  the 
command  moved  off.  Crossing  the  mountains 
at  Snicker's  Gap,  we  moved  on  to  the  Shen- 
andoah  River,  and  halted,  while  Mosby  sent  a 
scout  across  to  see  if  the  road  was  clear. 
Returning  in  the  course  of  an  hour,  they 
brought  intelligence  of  two  regiments  of  cav 
alry  encamped  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the 
river,  with  dismounted  men,  or  infantry  pick 
ets  out.  Mosby,  seeing  in  a  moment  he 
could  not  accomplish  anything  (that  is,  if  he 
made  a  capture,  he  could  not  bring  it  out, 
Berry's  and  Castleman's  Ferries  being  strong 
ly  guarded),  changed  his  whole  plan  of  oper- 


MOSDY  AND  SIS  MEN. 


ations.  Company  A  he  sent  to  Fairfax 
County  ;  Company  B,  down  the  Shenandoah 
River,  by  a  mountain  road,  to  Rock  Ford, 
where  wre  crossed  into  the  Valley,  under  cover 
of  night.  Lieutenant  Alfred  Glasscock,  of 
Company  D,  took  six  men,  returned  to  Fau- 
quier,  crossed  the  Blue  Ridge  at  Ashby's  Gap, 
and  the  Shenandoah  at  a  private  ford,  pene 
trated  the  enemy's  lines  as  far  as  Strasburg, 
where  he  surprised  and  captured  twenty 
Yankees  and  twenty  horses,  and  brought 
them  out  safe,  without  loss  or  injury. 

Company  A  returned  without  accomplish 
ing  anything  ;  and  likewise  Company  B, 
although  it  scoured  the  country  as  far  as 
Charlestown,  without  seeing  any  of  the  en 
emy. 

The  weather  being  intensely  warm,  a  few 
days  were  afforded  our  jaded  horses  to  recuper 
ate.  A  meeting  was  called  at  Rectortown,  and 
the  roll  called.  Three  hundred  men,  with 
two  pieces  of  artillery,  reported  for  duty.  At 
noon  the  men  were  moved  off,  Mosby  at  the 
head  of  the  column.  Mosby  had  for  some 
time  been  contemplating  a  foray  on  one  of  the 
enemy's  camps  in  Fairfax.  He  now  deter 
mined,  if  possible,  to  carry  his  plan  into 


244  MOSBY  AND   HIS  MEN. 

execution.  Anandale,  six  miles  from  Alex 
andria,  was  the  camp  ;  crossing  the  Bull  Run 
Mountains  at  sunset,  he  pushed  on  rapidly, 
under  cover  of  night,  to  the  camp.  The 
enemy,  though,  through  some  of  their  emis 
saries  who  were  scattered  all  over  the 
county  of  Fairfax,  had  obtained  information 
of  Mosby's  designs,  and  to  his  surprise,  at 
daylight  the  next  morning  Mosby  found  the 
enemy  had  sent  all  their  horses  to  a  camp 
lower  down,  and  the  garrison  were  placed  in 
the  stockades,  and  were  waiting  our  approach. 
Finding  his  plans  frustrated,  in  a  measure, 
by  treachery,  Mosby  determined  to  make  a 
demonstration  notwithstanding ;  and  Captain 
Montjoy  was  sent,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  to 
demand  a  surrender,  with  a  threat  of  shelling 
in  case  of  refusal.  Five  minutes  were  allowed 
the  commander  of  the  post  to  decide.  Feel 
ing  secure  against  any  attack  —  successful  — 
in  his  strongly  fortified  position,  he  sent  to 
Mosby  the  laconic  reply,  "  to  shell  and  be 
damned."  Mosby  opened  on  him  with  his 
artillery,  commanded  by  Sam  Chapman.  The 
artillery  made  no  impression  on  the  stockades, 
and  hearing  of  reinforcements  on  the  way 
from  Falls  Church,  Mosby  abandoned  the 


MOB  BY  AND  HIS  MEN.  245 

attack,  and  returned  to  Fauquier  with  his 
command.  The  officer  in  command  of  An- 
andale,  for  his  heroism  on  this  occasion,  was 
promoted  to  a  Colonelship  for  "  gallant  ser 
vices'1 

21* 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 


MOSBY  PROMOTED  TO  THE  OFFICE  OF  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  —  CHAP 
MAN  AND  MONTJOY  PUNISH  A  GANG  OF  INCENDIARIES  —  UNSUC 
CESSFUL  ATTACKS. 


THE  wonderful  success  which  attended 
Major  Mosby  on  all  his  forays  on  the 
enemy,  had  elicited  from  Generals  Lee  and 
Stuart  frequent  recommendations  to  the  Wai- 
Department  for  his  promotion.  No  officer  in 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  (and  there 
was  many  a  gallant  one)  had  accomplished  as 
much  with  a  brigade  of  cavalry  as  Mosby  had 
with  his  small  band  of  men.  With  this 
small  squad  he  kept  the  enemy  in  the  Valley, 
and  made  them  hug  their  fortifications  around' 
Washington,  at  Point  of  Ilocks,  Berlin,  and 
Harper's  Ferry,  Maryland,  besides  extending 
the  arm  of  protection  to  the  farmers  in  the 
counties  of  Fauquier,  Loudon,  Prince  Wil 
liam,  and  the  upper  portion  of  Fairfax. 

(246) 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  247 

Order  and  respect  for  private  property  pre 
vailed  all  over  these  counties ;  and  whenever 
there  was  the  least  trespass  on  private  prop 
erty,  whether  it  was  upon  Union  or  upon 
Southern  farmers,  by  his  own  men  or  by 
other  persons,  the  trespassers  were  arrested 
and  sent  to  Richmond,  to  be  tried  by  court- 
martial.  In  consideration  of  all  these  ser 
vices,  the  President  promoted  Mosby  to  the 
office  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  a  merited  pro 
motion  it  was. 

A  few  days  after  Mosby's  return  from  Fair 
fax,  Captain  Sam  Chapman  of  Company  E, 
and  Montjoy  of  Company  D,  took  portions 
of  their  companies  (sixty  men)  into  the  Val 
ley  on  a  raid.  When  near  B.erryville,  they 
met  a  party  of  the  enemy  applying  the  torch 
to  every  barn,  stable,  and  out-house  in  their 
march,  shooting  and  killing  stock  in  the 
fields.  Innocent  women  and  children  and 
old  men  were  turned  out  of  doors,  and  their 
houses  and  all  burnt  to  the  ground.  The 
sight  presented  to  Chapman  and  his  men 
aroused  all  the  worst  passions  of  the  soldier ; 
and  there  was  one  general  shout  of  "no  quar 
ter  ! "  Chapman  and  Montjoy,  with  their 
sixty  men,  swept  down  on  the  enemy  like  a 


248  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

whirlwind.  Forty  were  killed  on  the  spot. 
Thirty-five  horses  and  two  prisoners  were 
brought  off.  The  prisoners  were  sent  to  Cul- 
pepper  by  a  German  baron. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  Colonel  Mosby 
ordered  fifty  men  to  meet  him  in  Middleburg. 
At  noon  we  moved  off  down  the  turnpike, 
passing  through  Aldie,  and  bivouacked  that 
night  near  Mr.  Cross's,  in  Fairfax  County. 
At  daylight,  the  next  morning,  scouts  were 
started  out  in  all  directions,  to  find  game. 
Mosby,  hearing  a  large  body  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry  were  moving  up  the  turnpike  towards 
Middleburg,  took  Bob  Walker  and  myself  out 
with  him.  We  went  back  to  within  two 
miles  of  Aldic.,  before  we  learned  anything 
definite  as  to  the  strength  of  the  column 
which  had  just  passed  up.  There  we  learned 
six  hundred  cavalry  and  several  wagons  had 
gone  up  one  hour  before.  Deeming  it  unneces 
sary  to  follow  them  further,  we  retraced  our 
march  to  the  men  who  still  remained  in  the 
woods  near  Mr.  Cross's. 

When  half  way  back,  on  the  turnpike,  we 
were  met  by  Bush  Underwood  and  John  Sin 
clair,  running  for  their  lives,  with  one  hun 
dred  and  eighty  New  York  cavalry  after 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  249 

them.  The  whole  party  were  then  chased 
up  the  turnpike  about  two  miles,  when 
Mosby  dodged  into  the  wroods,  and  let  the 
enemy  pass.  When  they  disappeared,  Mosby 
returned  to  the  turnpike,  and  learned  "  they 
were  going  up  to  reenforce  the  Eighth  Illi 
nois  at  Middleburg."  Refreshing  ourselves 

with   a   glass    of  hard   cider  at   Mr.  's, 

Mosby  returned  to  his  men.  After  an  hour's 
rest,  he  moved  us  lower  down  in  the  county, 
to  the  farm  of  Mrs.  Moore.  Here  we  re 
mained  in  the  woods  until  the  afternoon  of 
the  next  day.  We  were  then  divided  into 
three  squads ;  Harry  Hatcher,  lieutenant  of 
Company  A,  alias  Deadly  Hatcher,  took 
twelve  men ;  Lieutenant  Albert  Wren,  of 
Company  13,  took  fourteen  men ;  and  the 
rest  were  under  Mosby. 

The  intention  of  Mosby  was  to  take  every 
picket-post  around  Alexandria  that  night. 
The  enemy,  however,  heard  we  were  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  trebled  the  strength  of 
their  pickets ;  and  instead  of  six  or  eight 
men  on  duty,  there  were  twenty-five  at  each 
post,  besides  several  scouts  started  out  to 

scatter    or    capture    us.      Mosby    sent   

Mason,  John  Dickson,  Fred  and  John  Hep- 


250  MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN. 

kins,  to  take  the  post  at  Falls  Church.  The 
attack  was  before  day,  but  not  successful. 
Mason  fell  wounded,  but  escaped  to  the 
bushes,  under  cover  of  night,  and  reached 
Colonel  Elgey's,  in  London  County,  the  next 
day,  having  marched  forty  miles  with  a  ball 
in  his  leg.  The  rest  of  the  party  escaped 
uninjured.  Lieutenant  Albert  Wren  and  his 
party  were  chased  out  by  a  scouting-party 
before  they  had  got  even  a  sight  of  their 
work. 

Harry  Hatcher  and  Bush  Underwood,  with 
their  party,  had  been  charged  with  the  duty 
of  taking  the  post  at  Lewinsville.  Hatcher, 
with  Bush  Underwood  as  guide,  had  managed 
to  get  in  sight  of  his  work  without  being 
seen  by  any  of  their  scouts ;  but  unfortu 
nately  for  us,  we  were  seen  by  a  sergeant, 
who  reported  the  fact  in  camp,  and  a  large 
scouting-party  was  sent  after  us.  Night 
coming  on,  we  sought  refuge  in  the  thick 
pines,  and  remained  there  until  nine  o'clock, 
when  the  enemy  returned  to  their  camp. 
We  then  emerged  from  our  hiding-place,  and 
started  back  for  Fauquier,  taking  in  our 
route  Mrs.  S winks',  a  great  rendezvous  for 
Federal  officers,  expecting  to  pick  up  a  few 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  251 

of  the  French  gentlemen ;  unfortunately, 
none  were  there  that  evening. 

Lieutenant  Hatcher,  Bush  Underwood, 
Bally  Rowser,  and  myself  were  invited  into 
the  house  by  Miss  Mattie,  Mrs.  S winks'  ac 
complished  and  amiable  daughter,  and  hand 
somely  entertained.  Cold  ham,  crackers, 
cheese,  preserves,  &c.,  &c.,  were  served  in 
great  profusion  to  the  half-starved  rebels ;  and 
we  were  half  starved,  for  we  had  not  had  a 
"square  meal"  for  three  days.  As  we  were 
leaving  the  house,  Miss  Swink  called  us  back, 
saying  she  had  forgotten  something.  Step 
ping  up  stairs,  she  returned  in  a  moment  with 
a  black  bottle  covered  all  over  with  gold,  with 
Ihe  stamp  of  u  old  Bourbon  "  on  it  in  large 
letters.  A  Federal  captain  had  presented  it 
to  her  that  afternoon,  and  she  told  him  at  the 
time  she  never  indulged,  but  would  take  it 
and  treat  her  friends  with  Mosby  the  first 
time  they  came  there.  It  was  opened,  and 
after  drinking  our  hostess'  health,  we  drank 
that  of  the  Captain  too,  hoping  he  would 
again  open  his  heart  soon,  and  let  there  be  a 
larger  flow  of  that  great  panacea. 

Miss  S  winks'  parents  were  Unionists,  but 
she  a  most  uncompromising  Southerner ;  yet 


252  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

she  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Federal 
officers  in  and  around  Washington  and  Alex 
andria,  and  could  pass  and  repass  to  Alex 
andria,  Washington,  and  Georgetown  at  will ; 
and  the  members  of  the  "old  Forty-third" 
will  always  remember  her  with  feelings  of 
gratitude  for  the  offices  of  kindness  she 
showed  them  while  we  occupied  Fauquier. 
Leaving  Mrs.  Swinks'  at  ten  o'clock,  our 
faces  were  once  more  directed  to  headquar 
ters.  On  the  road  we  learned  that  dismount 
ed  men  were  sent  out  every  night  to  bush 
whack  us.  Fearing  we  should  run  into  them, 
we  bivouacked  that  night  at  Peacock's,  and 
at  daylight  the  next  morning  resumed  our 
return  to  Fauquier. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


BEHAVIOR  OF  THE  ENEMY  AT  MIDDLEBUHG  — A  BLAZE  AMONG  MOS- 
BY'S  MEN  —  CAPTAIN  SAM  CHAPMAN  ROUTS  THE  SIXTH  NEW 
YORK  CAVALRY  — MOSBY  WOUNDED —  LIEUTENANT  GLASSCOCK  IN 
SHERIDAN'S  CAMP. 


IN  Middleburg  the  enemy  behaved  most 
disgracefully,  searching  and  robbing  pri 
vate  houses,  and  insulting  ladies.  They 
nearly  pulled  the  finger  off  one  young  lady, 
Miss  Nolen,  in  their  efforts  to  take  a  ring. 
She  fought  like  a  rebel  for  it,  and  kept  it,  too. 
The  cowardly  wretches,  however,  bruised  her 
arms  until  they  were  blue. 

One  remarkable  fact  about  the  enemy's 
cavalry  around  Washington  and  Alexandria 
was,  that  of  all  the  scouts  they  ever  made  to 
Mosby's  Confederacy,  invariably  every  one 
was  made  when  Mosby  was  absent  on  a  raid 
with  his  men.  How  it  happened  so  it  is  im 
possible  for  me  to  say,  and  I  should  like  to 
have  some  of  the  Federal  officers  command- 

22  (253) 


254  MOSSY  AND  SIS  MEN. 

ing  those  troops  explain  it.  I  know  of  no 
explanation,  unless  it  was  to  afford  their  men 
an  opportunity  to  plunder,  and  see  how  much 
misery  they  could  heap  on  a  people  who  sym 
pathized  with  a  government  which  was  strug 
gling  with  the  whole  world  for  their  dearest 
rights. 

On  the  2d  day  of  September,  the  whole 
command  met  at  Rectortown.  Colonel  Mos- 
by  took  Companies  A  and  B  and  crossed  the 
Blue  Ridge  at  Snicker's  Gap  ;  then  taking 
the  road  down  the  Shenandoah  River,  a 
march  of  seven  miles  brought  him  to  Rock 
Ford.  Hiding  his  men  in  the  mountains, 
Mosby,  with  Captain  A.  E.  Richards  and 
ten  men,  went  on  a  scout  across  the  river 
in  search  of  Captain  Blaze.  Blaze  had 
crossed  the  river  at  that  ford  that  morning, 
had  gone  up  to  the  stillhouse  a  few  miles 
from  the  river,  and  it  was  supposed  had  re 
turned  to  the  valley  by  another  road ;  but,  in 
stead  of  returning  to  the  Valley  from  the 
stillhouse,  they  took  the  road  up  to  Snickers- 
ville.  Reaching  there,  they  learned  Mosby 
had  passed  through  the  gap  on  a  raid.  Get 
ting  on  our  track  and  following  it  up,  they 
found  us  with  horses  unsaddled  and  half  the 


MO  SPY  AND  HIS  MEN.  255 

men  asleep.  Charging  us  from  the  rear,  they 
created  the  greates't  consternation  amongst 
the  men.  Lieutenant  Joe  Nelson,  of  Com 
pany  A,  and  Horace  Johnson,  of  Company  B, 
rallied  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  men  and 
charged  the  enemy,  and  were  driving  them 
back  when  Nelson  unfortunately  fell  from  his 
horse,  dangerously  wounded  in  the  thigh. 
The  men  no  longer  tried  to  keep  the  enemy 
at  bay,  but  commenced  a  disorderly  retreat. 
They  were  pursued  by  the  drunken  foe,  and 
suffered  heavily,  three  being  killed  and  sev 
eral  wounded  ;  but  few  were  taken  prisoners. 
Although  these  Yankees  were  drunk,  I  must 
say  they  had  more  of  the  instincts  of  men, 
and  feelings  of  humanity  about  them  on  that 
day,  than  any  we  ever  met  before.  Our 
wounded  they  carried  to  houses  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  and  requested  every  attention  to  be 
shown  to  them  until  removed. 

Captain  Sam  Chapman,  with  the  other 
squadron,  crossed  the  Blue  Ridge  at  Ashby 
Gap,  and  the  Shenandoah  River  at  Shep 
herd's  Mill ;  then  directing  his  course  towards 
Berry ville,  half  a  mile  below  the  town,  he 
met  the  Sixth  New  York  Cavalry,  and  routed 
them,  killing  twenty  and  capturing  thirty 


256  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

horses  and  thirty  prisoners,  including  two 
officers.  It  was  a  dear  capture,  though,  and 
made  at  the  expense  of  some  of  the  bright 
est  ornaments  to  the  battalion,  —  Lieutenant 
Frank  Fox,  of  Company  C,  and  Jarmain,  of 
Company  E.  Fox  was  one  of  the  braVest 
of  the  brave,  and  by  his  genial  nature  and 
social  qualities,  had  won  the  confidence  and 
heart  not  only  of  Mosby,  but  of  the  whole 
command.  His  loss  was  serious,  and  much 
deplored.  His  horse  carried  him  into  the 
midst  of  the  enemy,  where  he  was  wounded 
seriously  in  the  arm,  and  taken  prisoner.  He 
was  kept  in  a  private  house  for  three  days, 
and  then  sent  to  Harper's  Ferry  in  an  ox 
cart.  At  the  Ferry  his  arm  was  amputated, 
not  from  necessity,  but  to  render  him  unfit 
for  future  service,  should  he  survive  the 
operation.  He  lingered  only  three  days, 
when  a  merciful  God  snatched  him  from  the 
hands  of  his  torturers.  Jarmain,  although  a 
new  member,  had,  by  his  manly  bearing  and 
unflinching  courage,  gained  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  all,  and  was  looked  upon  as  a 
rising  star  of  the  Forty-third.  Clay  Adams, 
who  fell  mortally  wounded  in  this  engage 
ment,  was  as  brave  a  soldier  as  ever  drew  a 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  257 

sabre.  Exempt  from  military  duty  by  dis 
ability  (being  deaf),  he  entered  tbe  service  as 
a  private  soldier,  and  fought  with  a  mm  that 
would  have  been  creditable  to  the  heroes  of 
old.  He  was  shot  through  the  sides,  by 
which  the  whole  lower  portion  of  the  body 
was  paralyzed.  The  enemy  carried  him  to  a 
neighbor's  house,  and  were  kindly  treating 
him.  John  Russell,  Sidney  Ferguson,  and 
one  or  two  others  crossed  the  river  in  the 
night,  went  to  the  house,  and  brought  him 
away,  although  the  house  was  strongly 
guarded.  He  was  brought  the  next  day  to 
his  father's,  in  Paris,  where  he  lingered  for 
six  months.  His  death  was  lamented  by  all 
who  knew  him. 

Mosby,  with  his  squad,  returned  with 
twelve  mules  and  five  prisoners,  which  he 
had  captured  near  Charlestown.  Nothing 
of  any  consequence  was  done  for  nearly  two 
weeks.  Colonel  Mosby,  with  two  men, 

Walter  Whaley  and Love,  started  on  a 

scouting  expedition  to  Fairfax,  and  when  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Centreville,  they  were 
attacked  by  a  party  of  seven  of  Colonel 
Lowell's  men.  Two  of  the  enemy  were 

killed,   two  -wounded,    and   the    other   three 
22* 


258  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

took  to  flight.  In  the  engagement  Mosby 
received  a  painful  wound  in  the  groin  of  the 
leg.  After  the  enemy's  retreat,  he  was 
brought  by  Whaley  and  Love  to  the  White 
Plains,  where  his  wound  was  dressed,  and  the 
next  day  he  started  for  his  father's,  in  Am- 
herst  County.  Captain  William  H.  Chap 
man,  of  Company  C,  being  senior  officer, 
assumed  command.  During  Mosby's  absence, 
scouting  in  small  squads  was  all  the  rage. 

Lieutenant  Alfred  Glasscock  took  ten  men, 
crossed  over  in  the  valley,  entered  Sher 
idan's  camps,  and  rode  through  them  as 
Provost  Guard,  with  orders  to  take  all  men 
found  absent  from  their  camps,  to  Sheridan's 
headquarters.  Glasscock  met  fifteen  men 
and  officers,  mounted  them  on  the  finest 
horses  in  the  camp,  and,  instead  of  carrying 
them  to  Sheridan's  headquarters,  he  started 
for  Mosby's  headquarters  in  Fauquier.  On 
the  way,  when  near  Berry's  Ferry,  three 
surgeons  were  met.  The  usual  halt  and 
questions  passed.  Glasscock,  satisfying  the 
surgeons  he  was  "  all  right,"  advanced  to 
where  they  were,  and  after  a  few  inquiries 
where  they  had  been,  and  if  they  had  seen  or 
heard  of  any  rebels,  ordered  them  to  fallv  in 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  259 

and  follow  him.  The  surgeons  complimented 
Glasscock  very  highly  for  his  skill  in  the 
management  of  this  affair,  and  complied  with 
his  order  with  very  good  grace.  Glasscock 
reached  Fauquier  with  eighteen  horses  and 
prisoners,  without  firing  a  shot,  or  having  a 
man  injured. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 


SUCCESSFUL  TRIPS  OF  LIEUTENANT  RUSSELL  AND  COMPANIONS  —  THE 
WRITER'S  VISIT  TO  RICHMOND  —  DECLINES  URGENT  INVITATIONS 
TO  MAKE  HIS  HOME  IN  THE  INTRKNCHMENTS  —  MOSBY  ATTACKS 
THE  ENEMY  AT  SALEM  —  VARIOUS  CAPTURES,  ETC. 


T  IEUTENANT  JOHN  RUSSELL,  of  Clark 

JL^  County, Magner,  of  Mississippi,  Dr. 

Lowers,  of  the  Valley,  and  Ab  Suttle  crossed 
the  Shenandoali  River  every  night,  attacked 
picket-posts,  and  harassed  the  enemy  at  every 
point  in  the  Valley,  giving  them  no  rest  night 
or  day.  Every  trip  they  made  was  a  success 
ful  one,  in  securing  prisoners  and  horses. 
Lieutenant  John  Russell  established  daily 
communication  with  General  Sheridan's  head 
quarters  at  Winchester.  Daily  Baltimore 
papers  (the  "  Gazette  "  and  "  American  "  ) 
were  received  in  Paris  at  nine  o'clock  the 
night  after  they  were  issued. 

Mosby  being  still  absent,  on  account  of  his 
wound,  large  numbers   of  the   men    availed 

(2GO) 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  261 

themselves  of  the  opportunity  (business  being 
very  dull)  of  getting  a  short  furlough,  to  go 
home,  and  take  with  them  what  had  been 
captured  during  the  summer  campaign  in 
Maryland  and  the  various  camps.  I  availed 
myself  of  the  opportunity,  and  paid  a  flying 
visit  of  two  days  to  Richmond.  I  met  there 
my  Captain,  A.  E.,  and  Tom  Richards,  and 
also  John  Atkins,  of  County  Cork,  Ireland, 
who  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  "  to  join 
Mosby."  Mr.  Atkins  was  a  younger  brother 
of  Captain  Atkins  (now  Lord )  of  Gen 
eral  Elzey's  staff. 

The  day  after  my  arrival  in  Richmond,  Fort 
Harrison  was  taken  by  the  enemy,  and  the 
greatest  alarm  prevailed  in  the  city.  The 
town  bell  was  rung,  militia  called  out,  and 
guards  placed  at  every  corner,  to  take  up  fur- 
loughed  soldiers  and  officers  (with  which  the 
city  was  filled)  to  go  to  the  intrenchments,  and 
check  the  advance  of  the  enemy.  After  being 
picked  up  on  the  street,  they  were  marched 
by  a  guard  to  what  was  called  the  Soldier's 
Home,  there  organized  into  companies,  and 
then  marched  out  to  the  army.  Atkins  and 
myself  were  amongst  the  fortunate  ones  they 
desired  to  go  out;  but  having  completed 


262  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

our  arrangements  to  leave  the  city  the  next 
morning  for  Fauquier,  our  Captain  had  no  idea 
of  spending  the  remainder  of  the  campaign 
in  those  agreeable  places,  "  the  intrench- 
ments ;  "  and  having  learned  the  art  of  flank 
ing  pretty  well  with  Mosby,  I  determined  to 
apply  it  in  this  instance.  I  got  to  my  room 
safe,  and  coming  out  of  it  to  see  my  Captain 
at  the  Spottswoods,  was  picked  up  the  second 
time.  I  flanked  out  the  second  time,  and 
reached  my  room.  While  looking  out  of  the 
window,  I  observed  most  of  the  guards  were 
dressed  in  citizen's  dress  ;  and  having  an  old 
musket  and  cartridge-box  in  my  brother's 
office,  I  conceived  the  idea  of  playing  guard ; 
so  shouldering  my  musket,  and  adjusting  the 
cartridge-box,  I  went  forth  in  quest  of  men  to 
go  out  and  defend  their  Capitol.  Every  man 
was  made  to  show  his  papers.  The  first  person 
I  ran  against  was  my  old  comrade-in-arms, 
Charlie  Hall,  who  had  likewise  got  into  the 
same  trouble  as  myself.  I  took  him  into  cus 
tody,  and  he  took  me  by  turns ;  by  that  means 
we  managed  to  get  through  our  little  business, 
and  have  everything  ready  to  leave  by  the 
morning  train,  with  my  Captain,  A.  E.  Rich 
ards.  My  reasons  for  acting  in  this  manner  I 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  263 

considered  the  very  best.  I  thought  I  could 
do  my  country  more  good  in  Fauquier,  with 
the  great  partisan ;  besides,  I  had  no  idea  of 
spending  the  fall  in  the  intrenchments. 

Atkins  pursued  a  different  plan,  and  much 
bolder.  At  the  armory,  when  handed  his 
musket,  he  refused  to  take  it,  stating  his 
reasons  to  the  officer  commanding  the  com 
pany,  and  to  General  Barton.  They  "  couldn't 
see  it,"  but  marched  him  back  to  the  Sol 
dier's  Home.  He,  however,  was  released  the 
next  day,  through  the  intercession  of  Captain 
Ed  Hudson,  of  General  Elzey's  Staff,  and 
formerly  of  the  Prussian  army.  That  night 
orders  were  issued  to  allow  no  one  to  leave 
the  city.  Guards  were  stationed  at  daylight 
at  every  corner  in  the  city,  to  pick  up  men 
who  could  not  show  proper  papers.  Having 
procured  passports  to  leave  the  city  the  day 
before,  and  before  the  enemy  made  this  move 
ment  on  our  lines,  I  had  no  difficulty  in 
reaching  the  depot,  although  my  pass  was 
examined  very  critically  by  at  least  twelve 
soldiers.  At  the  depot,  agreeably  to  arrange 
ments,  I  met  Captain  A.  E.  Richards.  We 
left  Richmond  at  nine  o'clock,  and  reached 
Gordons ville  at  the  usual  time.  There  we 


264  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

found  Mosby,  returning  to  his  command.  He 
and  Richards  went  by  rail  to  Culpepper, 
where  their  horses  were,  and  I  by  Madison 
Court  House,  Washington,  Rappahannock 
County,  and  Barber's  Cross  Roads,  reaching 
Fauquier  in  three  days. 

Colonel  Mosby  had  not  entirely  recovered 
from  his  wound,  yet  he  resumed  his  seat  in 
the  saddle  immediately.  On  reaching  Fau 
quier,  he  found  the  enemy  coming  up  the 
Manassas  Gap  Railroad  through  Thorough 
fare  Gap,  in  strong  force  of  Infantry  and 
Cavalry.  They  occupied  the  Plains  and 
Salem.  A  meeting  of  the  whole  command 
was  ordered  at  Piedmont.  Mosby  attacked 
them  at  Salem,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  and  drove  them  back  to  the  Plains,  and 
burned  the  depot  there,  with  a  large  quantity 
of  stores,  &c.  In  the  engagement  Mosby 
made  a  narrow  escape  with  his  life.  His 
horse,  stumbling,  fell  on  him,  and  sprained 
his  ankle.  Before  he  could  get  up,  a  Federal 
soldier  galloped  over  him,  and  fired  as  he 
passed ;  but  a  wise  Providence  changed  the 
direction  of  the  ball,  and  it  missed  him. 

The  enemy  receiving  reinforcements  at  the 
Plains,  Mosby  fell  back  to  Piedmont,  without 


WALTER  FKANKLAXJ) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  265 

losing  a  man.  At  Piedmont  he  rested  his 
men  one  day.  In  the  meanwhile  the  enemy 
occupied  Rectortown,  and  fortified  them 
selves.  Two  thousand  constituted  the  garri 
son.  On  the  west  side  of  Rectortown  is  a 
range  of  high  hills,  overlooking  the  town. 
The  enemy  having  no  cavalry,  Mosby  deter 
mined  to  shell  them  out  of  the  place,  if 
possible.  Concealing  one  half  of  his  men  in 
the  woods,  with  the  other  half  he  took 
a  position  on  one  of  these  hills  on  Mrs.  Raw- 
ling's  farm,  and  opened  on  them  with  two 
pieces  of  artillery  (one  gun  and  a  howitzer). 
Skirmishers  were  thrown  out.  The  enemy 
retreated,  but  soon  rallied  and  sought  refuge 
under  their  intrenchments,  from  which  re 
treat  they  could  not  be  drawn.  Several, 
however,  were  killed  and  wounded.  After 
an  hour's  shelling,  our  ammunition  gave  out, 
and  Mosby  ordered  us  to  fall  back  and  renew 
the  attack  next  day. 

Promptly  at  eight  o'clock,  all  met  at  Joe 
Blackwell's,  two  miles  from  Rectortown. 
With  the  assistance  of  glasses,  the  enemy 
could  be  seen,  working  like  beavers,  strength 
ening  their  works.  The  attack  was  to  be 
renewed  at  nine  o'clock.  Mosby  and  his  men 

23 


266  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

became  impatient  for  the  fray,  which  was 
delayed  by  the  artillery's  not  coming  up.  It 
finally  reached  us  at  three  o'clock,  and  Mosby 
attacked  them  in  their  fortifications.  They 
started  off  a  train  of  cars  down  the  railroad, 
with  one  thousand  Infantry  on  it.  Mosby 
attacked  it ;  but  by  the  late  arrival  of  the 
artillery  the  train  was  lost.  The  enemy,  how 
ever,  were  driven  from  it,  and  it  flew  down 
the  railroad  to  Salem.  The  enemy  retreated 
across  the  fields  towards  Salem,  pursued  by 
Mosby  and  his  men.  They  took  a  position 
on  a  mountain  to  the  right  of  Salem,  with  a 
high  stone  fence  at  its  base,  and  could  not  be 
dislodged,  on  account  of  the  natural  strength 
of  their  position.  Mosby  formed  his  men  in 
line  of  battle,  and  opened  on  them  with  his 
artillery,  but  without  effect. 

While  the  enemy  were  in  this  position, 
Albert  Wren,  Bully  Kowser,  John  Iden,  Dr. 
Sowers,  Sidney  Ferguson,  and  Reub  Triplett 
distinguished  themselves  by  their  bravery  in 
charging  up  the  mountain  to  the  enemy,  and 
discharging  their  pistols  at  them. 

Mosby,  finding  he  could  not  dislodge  the 
enemy,  retired  at  sunset  and  disbanded  his 
men.  The  enemy  that  night  were  reenforced 


MOSBT  AND  HIS   MEN.  267 

by  two  thousand  five  hundred  cavalry  from 
Washington  and  Muddy  Branch.  The  next 
day  we  met  at  Freds,  on  the  top  of  one  of  the 
spurs  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  One  hundred  of 
us  started  down  the  mountain,  under  Captain 
William  H.  Chapman,  to  engage  a  force  of 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  enemy,  at 
Mrs.  Shacklett's,  half  a  mile  from  Piedmont. 
Having  got  in  the  rear  of  Mrs.  Shacklett's 
house,  Lieutenant  John  Russell,  who  had 
gone  ahead  to  see  if  the  country  was  clear, 
suddenly  came  dashing  down  the  mountain 
on  the  opposite  side  of  Crooked  Run,  warn 
ing  us  of  our  danger,  and  telling  us  to  fall 
back.  No  sooner  had  we  seen  him  than  the 
brow  of  the  mountain  was  black  with  the  en 
emy,  the  foremost  about  ten  rods  behind 
Russell.  The  enemy  complimented  us  with 
three  rounds,  when  we  retired.  Anticipating 
our  attack  on  the  party  at  Mrs.  Shacklett's, 
they  had  sent  a  force  of  three  or  four  hun 
dred  around  and  concealed  them  under  this 
mountain  to  attack  us  in  the  rear,  should  we 
bite  at  the  bait  they  had  set  for  us  ;  but  the 
keen  eye  and  sagacity  of  Russell  frustrated 
all  their  nice-laid  plans. 

While  this  was   going  on  near  Piedmont, 


'268  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

the  enemy,  concluding  all  our  men  had  left 
the  country,  except  those  with  Chapman,  sent 
a  party  of  sixteen  from  Rectortown,  via  Up- 
perville  and  Paris,  with  dispatches  to  General 
Sheridan  in  the  valley.  Their  arrival  in  Up- 
perville,  in  such  a  small  squad,  was  a  sur 
prise  to  all.  Captain  Montjoy  being  in  the 
neighborhood  and  hearing  of  them,  sent  John 
Thomas,  John  Horn,  Ab  Fox,  James  Keith, 
and  two  others,  who  followed  them  through 
Ashby's  Gap  and  attacked  them  at  the  toll- 
gate,  between  the  gap  and  the  river.  Nine 
were  captured  without  making  any  resistance ; 
the  other  seven  dismounted  and  fled  to  the 
mountains,  and,  getting  lost,  came  down  in 
the  evening  to  Paris  and  gave  themselves  up. 
Sixteen  horses  and  the  dispatches  were  se 
cured.  The  dispatches,  being  in  cipher,  were 
sent  to  Richmond,  and  the  character  of  them 
never  known. 

The  morning  after  this,  thirty-five  men  of 
Company  B  met  Captain^  A.  E.  Richards  at 
Paris,  and  started  on  a  raid  to  the  valley, 
crossing  at  Ashby's  Gap,  and  the  Shenandoah 
River  at  Island  Ford.  When  near  Strasburg 
Richards  attacked  fifty  cavalrymen  and  one 
ambulance  belonging  to  General  Sheridan's 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  269 

headquarters.  The  enemy  were  routed ;  six 
were  killed,  including  Sheridan's  chief  quar 
termaster  ;  twenty-eight  horses  and  twelve 
prisoners  were  taken.  The  ambulance,  also, 
was  captured  with  contents,  including  val 
uable  papers,  giving  reports  of  the  number 
of  cavalry  and  artillery  horses  &c.,  &c. ;  these 
were  sent  to  Richmond. 

23* 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

UNITED  STATES  MAIL-TRAIN  CAPTURED  —  "  GOING  THROUGH"  THE 
PASSENGERS—  CAPTURE  OF  MOSBY'S  ARTILLERY  —  TRAINS  THROWN 
OFF  THE  TRACK  —  GENERAL,  AUGER  ARRESTS  FIVE  CITIZENS  — 
CRUELTY. 

HARRY  HEATON  of  Company  D,  one  of 
the  valley  scouts,  came  in  and  informed 
Mosby  of  a  fine  opening  in  the  valley  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  Mosby  or 
dered  a  meeting  for  the  next  day,  the  13th  of 
October,  at  Bloomfield,  in  London  County, 
a  small  village  five  miles  from  Snicker's  Gap. 
Seventy  men  reported  for  duty.  At  noon  the 
mountains  were  crossed  at  Snicker's  Gap,  and 
the  Shenandoah  River  at  Castleman's  Ferry. 
Pushing  on  through  Cabletown,  night  over 
took  the  party  at  Dr.  William's,  in  Jefferson 
County.  Here  Colonel  Mosby,  the  officers, 
and  a  few  men,  were  very  hospitably  enter 
tained  by  the  doctor  and  his  accomplished 
daughters.  At  nine  o'clock  the  march  was 

(270) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  271 

resumed.  The  scout  having  learned  the  hour 
the  train  was  due  at  Duffield  Station,  the 
railroad  was  struck  half  an  hour  before  it  was 
due,  obstructions  were  placed  on  the  track  at 
the  depot,  and  all  awaited  anxiously  the  ar 
rival  of  the  train. 

In  due  time  the  express  came  lumbering  to 
the  station  and  stopped.  A  guard  was  placed 
over  the  engine  and  the  men  entered  the  cars. 
Two  paymasters  were  found  with  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy  thousand  dollars  of  Govern 
ment  funds.  The  greenbacks  were  confis 
cated,  and  started  out  to  Fauquier  by  Lieu 
tenants  Briscoe,  Grogan,  of  Company  D,  and 
two  men.  Some  of  the  men  commenced 
"  going  through  "  the  passengers.  One 
Southerner  was  put  through  the  mill  by  be 
ing  relieved  of  a  tine  watch,  which  Mosby 
found  out,  and  made  the  fellow  return  it, 
through  him,  to  the  owner  in  Baltimore.  A 
number  of  the  men  exchanged  overcoats, 
hats,  gloves,  &c.  with  the  passengers.  One 
hog-drover,  who  was  returning  to  his  home 
in  the  West,  from  Washington,  where  he  had 
drawn  his  money  for  a  lot  of  hogs  sold  to  the 
Government,  was  relieved  of  the  burden  of 
five  thousand  dollars.  John  Horn,  who  com- 


272  MOSBT  AND  SIS  MEN. 

menced  going  through  a  big  Prussian  officer, 
was  seized  by  the  throat  and  choked  until  his 
tongue  hung  out,  but  was  extricated  from  his 
perilous  situation  by  Puryear's  dispatching 
his  assailant.  The  cars  were  destroyed,  and 
Mosby  started  back  with  twenty  prisoners 
and  fifteen  horses,  without  loss.  The  follow 
ing  is  General  Lee's  dispatch  to  the  Secretary 
of  War  in  Richmond  :  — 

ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA, 
October  16,  1864. 

OD  the  14th  instant  Colonel  Mosby  struck  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  Railroad  at  Duffield  Station,  destroyed 
a  United  States  mail-train,  consisting  of  locomotive 
and  ten  cars,  and  secured  twenty  prisoners  and  fifteen 
horses.  Among  the  prisoners  are  two  paymasters, 
with  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand  dollars 
Government  funds. 

R.  E.  LEE,  General,  &c. 

The  money  was  divided  equally  amongst 
the  men,  officers  and  men  sharing  alike. 
Mosby,  however,  refused  to  take  a  cent. 

During  Colonel  Mosby's  absence  on  this 
raid,  the  enemy  captured  his  artillery,  through 
the  treachery  of  one  of  his  men,  who,  for  a 
purse  of  gold,  told  them  where  it  was. 
When  the  enemy  occupied  the  Manassas  Gap 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  213 

Kailroad,  Captain  Franklin,  commanding  the 
artillery,  imprudently  hid  it  in  the  Cobblar 
Mountain,  instead  of  the  Blue  Eidge.  Luns- 
ford,  the  traitor,  told  them  where  it  was. 
The  enemy  surrounded  the  mountain  in  the 
night,  with  a  large  force  of  cavalry,  and  sent 
two  hundred  dismounted  men  up  into  the 
mountain  to  its  place  of  concealment.  These 
captured  it,  and  the  men  guarding  it.  The 
loss  of  our  artillery  was  a  serious  one,  but 
did  not  terminate  our  forays  on  the  enemy. 
The  enemy,  however,  made  a  great  fuss  and 
hurrah  over  its  capture,  and  also  that  of  one 
wagon-train.  Mosby  had  two  wagons  at  this 
time ;  and  I  know,  from  my  own  personal 
knowledge,  they  did  not  get  these,  for  no 
Federal  soldier  was  ever  in  the  Blue  Ridge 
Mountains  where  they  were  hid  ;  tmd  in 
April,  1865,  when  I  left  Fauquier  County, 
the  same  wagons  were  there  then  ;  so  Gen 
eral  Augur  was  mistaken  about  a  wagon-train 
being  captured  belonging  to  us.  If  his  men 
captured  any  wagons  that  night,  they  captured 
them  from  the  citizens. 

The  enemy  having  fortified  themselves  at 
Rectortown,  the  Plains,  and  Salem,  with  a 
large  force  at  Piedmont,  scoured  Fauquier 


274  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

County,  with  the  view  of  driving  us  out 
of  the  country.  All  the  men  except  those 
living  in  and  right  under  the  mountains 
changed  their  boarding-houses  to  the  southern 
side  of  the  railroad.  Lieutenants  K.,  S.,  and 
Y.,  with  a  few  picked  men,  amused  themselves 
by  tearing  up  the  railroad.  Lieutenant  K. 
threw  a  train  of  cars  off  the  track  between 
Thoroughfare  Gap  and  Gainesville  in  the 
night,  killing  and  wounding  several,  and 
smashing  up  the  locomotive  and  cars.  Lieu 
tenants  S.  and  Y.  placed  torpedoes  in  the 
road  between  Piedmont  and  Markham.  One 
exploded,  and  blew  a  cavalryman  and  horse 
to  pieces.  That  stopped  their  scouting  up  to 
Front  Royal. 

To  prevent  a  repetition  of  these  annoyan 
ces,  General  Augur  ordered  the  arrest  of  five 
of  the  most  prominent  citizens  in  the  county. 
The  victims  of  Augur's  wrath  were  Messrs. 
Jamison,  Albert  and  Samuel  Ashby  (three 
brothers,  and  uncles  to  the  lamented  and 
renowned  Turner  Ashby),  Benjamin  Triplett, 
and  another  citizen,  all  old  men.  These  old 
men  were  dragged  from  their  beds  and  the 
bosoms  of  their  families  in  the  dead  hour  of 
night,  carried  to  Rectortown,  and  made  to 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  275 

ride  in  the  front  car,  to  keep  us  from  throw 
ing  the  trains  off  the  track.  Providence, 
however,  relieved  Mr.  Jamison  Ashby  from 
the  hands  of  his  persecutors.  While  sleep 
ing  with  his  neighbors  and  old  friends  on  the 
floor  of  the  car  one  night,  he  was  shot  in  the 
head  by  a  guard  without  any  provocation 
whatever.  He  was  carried  to  a  hospital  in 
Alexandria,  and  his  friends  were  not  only 
prevented  from  seeing  him  and  showing  him 
some  attention,  in  alleviating  his  sufferings, 
and  supplying  his  wants,  but  the  authorities 
absolutely  refused  his  daughter  the  privilege 
of  simply  seeing  him,  at  a  time,  too,  when  he 
was  in  the  very  throes  of  death ;  and  the 
almost  heart-broken  girl  was  compelled  to 
return  to  her  home  in  Fauquier,  without  ever 
again  in  this  world  gazing  upon  the  face 
of  an  affectionate  and  doting  father.  This  is 
a  sad  tale,  my  readers,  and  may  appear  to 
some  as  being  exaggerated,  but  it  is  true.  If 
any  one  questions  the  statement,  let  him  visit 
Fauquier,  and  inquire  of  parties  •  who  wit 
nessed  the  deed. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


TOO  MUCH  OF  A  GOOD  THING  —  TREACHERY  —  TOO  MUCH  OF  A  GOOD 
THING  AGAIN  —  CAPTAIN  FRANKLAND  FAILS  TO  "  MAKE  HIS 
JACK." 


A  FEW  days  after  Colonel  Mosby's  return 
from  the  Valley,  he  led  about  two  hun 
dred  men  to  Fairfax,  to  attack  a  train  of  two 
hundred  wagons  at  Burk's  Station,  on  the 
Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad.  Each 
wagon  was  guarded  by  three  negro  soldiers. 
Fifty  of  these  wagons  would  go  out  at  a  time, 
and  were  engaged  in  hauling  wood  to  the 
depot.  We  arrived  there,  however,  one  hour 
too  late  ;  the  wagons  and  niggers  had  gone 
into  camp,  and  six  hundred  infantry  in 
wagons,  were  almost  too  much  of  a  good 
thing  for  two  hundred  cavalry,  armed  with 
nothing  but  pistols  ;  and  Mosby  concluded  to 
let  them  rest  for  another  time. 

From  Burk's  Station  we  went  down  to  Billy 
Goodwin's  tavern,  on  the  turnpike,  some  ten 

(276) 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  277 

miles  from  Alexandria.  Meeting  with  little 
or  no  encouragement  there,  Mosby  moved  us 
lower  down,  in  sight  of  Anandale.  Two 
men  were  sent  to  take  the  picket,  and  draw 
the  garrison  out.  One  prisoner  was  taken, 
the  other  retreated  to  camp.  The  garrison, 
however,  declined  to  come  out.  Night  ap 
proaching,  Companies  A,  B,  C,  and  E,  were 
sent  back  to  Fauquier.  Company  D,  Captain 
Montjoy,  was  sent  to  Falls  Church,  to  capture 
two  hundred  cavalry  and  two  stores.  Bush 
Underwood  was  the  guide,  and  but  for  the 
treachery  of  a  citizen,  named  Reed,  Montjoy 
would  have  made  a  clean  sweep  of  the  place. 
The  pickets  had  been  flanked,  and  our  men 
in  their  camp  and  at  the  stables,  leading  out 
the  horses,  when  this  Union  citizen  (a  spy), 
gave  the  alarm  by  blowing  a  horn,  as  we 
were  going  into  the  camp.  The  men,  not 
suspecting  anything,  paid  no  attention  to  it, 
but  thought  somebody  was  going  out  a 
'possum  hunting,  though  no  barking  of  dogs 
was  heard. 

The  enemy  had  taken  a  position  behind 
some  breastworks,  and  when  our  men  com 
menced  leading  out  the  horses,  a  volley  was 
fired  into  them.  Lieutenant  Glasscock  rode 

24 


278  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

out  a  few  paces  in  the  direction  the  firing 
came  from,  and  told  them  to  stop  firing  into 
their  own  men.  The  reply  he  received  was 
another  volley.  Thinking  prudence  the  better 
part  of  valor,  he  retired.  Passing  Reed's 
house,  the  boys  found  out  what  the  blowing 
of  the  horn  meant,  and  shot  Reed.  Had  it 
not  been  for  Reed,  the  enemy  would  have 
been  spared  the  trouble  and  expense  of  try 
ing  that  notorious  character  Charlie  Been,  a 
deserter  from  Mosby.  We  regretted  exceed 
ingly  that  we  were  compelled  to  leave  him 
and  Yankee  Davis  undisturbed  in  their  slum 
ber  in  the  store  at  Falls  Church  that  night, 
with  their  sable  companions.  Three  negroes, 
however,  were  killed,  five  prisoners  taken, 
and  ten  horses  brought  off.  Montjoy  sus 
tained  neither  loss  nor  injury. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1864,  a  meeting 
of  the  command  was  held  at  Bloomfield. 
Very  near  four  hundred  men  were  present, 
the  largest  number  ever  out.  We  crossed  the 
mountains  at  Snicker's  Gap,  and  the  Shenan- 
doah  river  at  Castleman's  Ferry  about  dusk. 
That  night  we  camped  near  Summit  Point, 
and  next  morning  resumed  our  march  at  sun 
rise. 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  279 

Colonel  Mosby  took  ten  men  (Sam  Alex 
ander,  John  Russell,  John  Dickson,  Fred 
Hipkins  and  others),  and  went  on  a  scouting 
expedition,  the  command  following.  When 
on  the  turnpike  between  Winchester  and 
Martinsburg,  near  Mrs.  Allen's,  six  miles  from 
Winchester,  he  fell  in  with  General  Durfay 
and  twenty-five  cavalry  (Durfay  riding  in  an 
ambulance),  being  the  advance  guard,  consist 
ing  of  three  thousand  infantry.  Fourteen 
pieces  of  artillery,  and  five  hundred  cavalry, 
to  a  train  of  one  thousand  wagons.  Mosby 
captured  the  General,  one  staff  officer,  and 
four  privates  ;  the  rest  retreated  to  the  main 
column.  Russell  and  Sam  Alexander  fol 
lowed  them  up,  but  were  obliged  to  retreat 
or  rather  get  out  as  fast  as  they  went  in. 
Mosby  then  came  back  to  the  command, 
threw  himself  at  the  head  of  the  First 
Squadron,  Companies  A  and  B,  and  com 
menced  charging  the  train.  Their  cavalry 
ran  off ;  but  their  infantry  (Zouaves)  formed 
in  line  of  battle,  and  opened  on  us  with  two 
pieces  of  artillery.  We  fell  back  under 
cover  of  a  piece  of  woods  and  a  hill.  The 
enemy  parked  the  wagons,  and  posted  some 
of  their  infantry  behind  and  in  them,  but  did 


280  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

not  advance.  Mosby  was  in  fine  spirits,  and 
riding  along  the  column  in  front  of  Company 
B,  cried  out,  — 

"  Well,  ,  which  would  you  rather 

have,  —  the  General  or  the  wagons  ] " 

"  Both,"  replied . 

Just  then  a  shell  exploded  near  the  Colonel, 
which  terminated  the  colloquy,  and  we  moved 
off  towards  Fauquier. 

The  battalion  dividing  below  Berryville, 
the  Second  Squadron,  with  Chapman,  re- 
crossed  the  Shenandoah  river  at  Berry  Ferry, 
and  passing  through  Ashby's  Gap,  proceeded 
to  Markham,  Fauquier  County,  to  watch  the 
movements  of  the  enemy  on  the  Manassas 
Gap  Railroad.  The  First  Squadron,  under 
command  of  Captain  Frankland,  of  Company 
F,  crossed  the  Shenandoah  river,  at  Castle- 
man's  Ferry  ;  thence  through  Snicker's  Gap 
to  a  point  (Mum's)  between  Rectortown  and 
Middleburg,  in  the  hope  of  intercepting  some 
small  scouting-parties  of  the  enemy.  After 
we  had  lain  in  the  woods  watching  for  them 
all  day,  and  had  neither  seen  nor  heard  any 
thing  of  them,  orders  came  from  Captain 
Richards  to  disband  and  go  home. 

On  the  29th  of    October,  Colonel  Mosby 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  281 

ordered  a  meeting,  at  Middleburg,  of  a  por 
tion  of  the  command.  Lieutenant  Wren, 
with  fifteen  men,  reported,  and  found  the 
Colonel  had  gone.  From  there  we  pushed  on 
to  Carter's  Mill.  Reaching  there,  we  learned 
Mosby  had  just  left,  without  stopping.  Get 
ting  track  of  him,  we  pushed  on  and  over 
took  his  party  in  the  woods  one  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  Mill.  Lieutenant  Harry 
Hatcher,  of  Company  A,  riding  up  to  us,  told 
us  to  rest  our  horses  ;  that  two  hundred  Yan 
kees  had  just  started  out  from  Rectortown, 
scouting,  and  that  he  and  Colonel  Mosby  had 
been  watching  them. 

Orders  soon  came  to  mount  our  horses. 
The  party  with  Mosby  coming  up,  our  num 
ber  was  swelled  to  one  hundred  and  ten  men. 
Learning  the  enemy  were  at  Hatcher's  Mill, 
on  the  Alexandria  turnpike,  we  pressed  on  in 
that  direction,  in  high  glee,  and  found  them 
dismounted  and  feeding  their  horses.  Deem 
ing  it  hazardous  to  attack  them  then,  we 
waited  in  the  woods  until  they  resumed  their 
march,  and  followed  them  on  until  we  reached 
Henry  Dulaney's  house,  about  one  mile  from 
Upperville.  In  the  meanwhile  Mosby  left  us 
in  charge  of  Captain  Frankland,  while  he  went 

24* 


282  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

on  the  opposite  side  of  the  turnpike,  at  Green 
Garden  Mills,  to  see  Captain  A.  E.  Richards, 
who  had  just  returned  from  scouting  in  the 
Valley. 

Frankland  having  given  up  the  office  of 
Quartermaster  of  the  battalion,  to  take  com 
mand  of  Company  F,  a  short  time  before, 
thought  it  an  excellent  opportunity  to  make 
his  "  Jack.11  The  Yankees,  knowing  we  were 
after  them  and  in  that  neighborhood,  drew 
up  in  line  of  battle  in  three  columns  behind 
a  ditch  four  feet  wide,  with  a  six-rail  fence 
over  that.  The  centre  numbered  about  one 
hundred  men,  with  columns  of  fifty  men  on 
either  flank,  and  were  patiently  awaiting  an 
attack  from  us.  Frankland,  brave  and  impet 
uous,  could  not  resist  the  temptation,  although 
he  had  received  orders  just  to  watch  them, 
and  nothing  more.  He  determined  to  attack 
the  enemy  at  all  hazards.  Riding  back  to  his 
men,  he  divided  them  into  two  squadrons ; 
the  first,  with  forty-five  men,  being  parts  of 
Companies  A  and  B,  commanded  by  the  gal 
lant  Wren ;  the  Second  Squadron,  numbering 
sixty-five  men,  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Grogan,  of  Company  D.  The  First  was  to 
charge  the  enemy,  and  the  Second  to  sup 
port  us. 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  283 

Having  formed  in  fours,  and  all  things 
being  ready,  orders  came  to  charge.  On  we 
dashed,  Wren  at  the  head,  over  the  hill  with 
a  yell  with  which  the  very  mountains  in  the 
distance  rung.  Charging  up  to  within  twenty 
yards  of  the  foe,  and  seeing  their  strong  posi 
tion,  we  looked  back  for  our  supports.  None 
being  in  view,  the  men  began  to  waver.  The 
enemy,  appreciating  our  position,  fired  one 
volley,  and  then  charged  through  a  gate, 
pouring  into  the  little  squad  a  deadly  fire 
from  their  Spencer  rifles.  No  assistance 
coming  up,  a  precipitate  retreat  was  com 
menced.  Our  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
prisoners,  was  heavier  than  in  any  previous 
engagement  during  the  war.  Four  men  were 
killed,  and  ten  captured.  Among  the  killed 
was  John  Atkins,  of  County  Cork,  Ireland, 
and  brother  of  Captain  Atkins,  late  of  Gen 
eral  Elzey's  staff,  but  now  Lord . 

No  higher  compliment  could  be  paid  to  a 
brave  soldier  than  that  paid  by  Mosby  to  the 
noble  patriot,  as  he  lay  stretched  on  his  bier 
in  Henry  Dulaney's  house.  Some  one  came 
in  the  room  while  the  Colonel  was  there,  and 
commenced  explaining  the  part  played  in  the 
affair  by  certain  officers.  The  Colonel  replied, 
pointing  to  the  dead  body  of  Atkins,  — 


284  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

"  There  lies  a  man  I  would  not  have  given 
for  a  whole  regiment  of  Yankees." 

John  Atkins  left  home,  friends,  wealth, 
and  position,  and  came  three  thousand  miles 
to  fight  for  a  cause  which  every  true  Irish 
man  holds  most  dear.  He  was  brave  as  he 
was  generous.  He  knew  not  what  danger 
was.  Fearless  as  a  lion,  he  was  gentle  in  his 
manners  as  a  lamb.  How  touching  are  those 
last  words  he  spoke  while  pouring  out  his 
heart's  blood  at  the  foot  of  the  shrine  of 
liberty:  "  Oh,  my  mother!  my  poor  mother !  " 
He  was  a  man  of  fine  education  and  most 
agreeable  manners,  and  enjoyed  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  the  whole  command.  A 
neat  coffin  was  furnished  by  his  friends,  and 
he  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  Paris. 
Mosby,  who  stood  in  Captain  Richards'  front, 
and  witnessed  the  charge  of  Companies  A 
and  B,  complimented  Lieutenant  Wren  very 
highly  for  his  gallantry  on  the  occasion,  in  his 
having  displayed  all  the  qualities  of  a  good 
soldier. 

Captain  A.  E.  Richards,  the  evening  of  this 
disaster,  had  just  returned  from  scouting  in 
the  Valley,  with  only  eight  men.  He  was 
eminently  successful,  having  captured  twenty 
horses  and  prisoners  without  loss. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 


CAPTAIN  BRASHER'S  EXPEDITION  INTO  THE  CONFEDERACY  — GENERAL 

POWELL'S     RAID  — RETALIATION  — EFFECTS     OF     RETALIATION  — 
CASE  OF  ROBERT  HARROVER. 


ABOUT  this  time  there  appeared  in  the 
Valley  another  conspicuous  character, 
Captain  Brasher,  alias  Blazer,  whom  the 
authorities  at  Washington  had  selected  from 
their  whole  army  for  his  bravery  and  daring, 
and  sent  to  the  Valley,  with  one  hundred 
men  selected  by  him  from  their  cavalry,  and 
distinguished  for  their  fighting  qualities,  to 
"  clean  out  Mosby."  Captain  Brasher  made 
Cable  town  his  headquarters.  His  first  act 
was  a  proposition  to  Mosby  to  take  fifty  of 
his  men,  and  whip  one  hundred  of  Mosby's 
best  and  tried  men.  Mosby  took  no  notice 
of  his  challenge,  but  bided  his  time. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Brasher,  with  his  men, 
with  a  degree  of  boldness  and  daring  unpre 
cedented  in  the  cavalry  of  the  Army  of  the 

(285) 


286  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Potomac,  made  frequent  forays  into  our  Con 
federacy,  and  scoured  the  Blue  Ridge  Moun 
tains  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Ashby's  Gap ; 
which  was  something  no  other  Federal  officer 
had  ever  done,  unless  he  had  a  brigade  or  a 
division  of  cavalry  with  him.  In  those  expe 
ditions  he  did  nothing  very  damaging  to  us, 
except  here  and  there  picking  up  a  Mosbyite 
and  a  horse  or  two.  One  circumstance  which 
distinguished  Brasher  and  his  men  above  all 
other  Union  soldiers  that  raided  into  that 
country,  was  the  respect  he  and  they  paid  to 
citizens  and  private  property.  The  conse 
quence  was,  his  visits  were  not  looked  upon 
with  that  feeling  of  dread  that  was  inspired 
by  the  raids  of  other  parties. 

But  we  must  leave  Captain  Brasher  for  a 
little  while,  and  see  what  was  doing  at  Rec- 
tortown,  on  the  Sunday  following.  The 
enemy  had  left  the  Manassas  Gap  Railroad, 
taking  with  them  all  the  iron  rails  and  even 
clamps.  Colonel  Mosby  started  on  Sunday 
with  two  hundred  men  for  Prince  William 
County  to  Gainesville.  Crossing  the  Bull 
Run  Mountains  by  a  private  road,  we  camped 
that  night  on  the  other  side  of  them.  At 
daylight  we  moved  down  to  the  woods  on  Mr. 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  287 

Pickett's  farm  near  Gainsville,  and  remained 
there  all  day.  Scouts  were  sent  out  to  draw 
the  enemy's  cavalry  away  from  the  railroad. 
Not  being  able  to  get  them  out,  Colonel 
Mosby  ordered  Lieutenant  Hatcher,  with 
Company  A,  to  a  point  near  Centreville ; 
and  the  rest  of  the  men,  under  Lieutenant 
Grogan,  to  St.  John's  Church,  near  Sudley. 
There  we  remained  until  next  day  at  noon, 
when  orders  came  to  disband  and  go  home, 
returning  by  way  of  Hopewell  Gap  and  the 
Plains.  Hatcher  returned  without  doing  any 
thing. 

During  our  absence  on  this  raid,  General 
Powell,  with  two  thousand  five  hundred  cav 
alry,  and  four  pieces  of  artillery,  made  a  raid 
into  the  Confederacy  by  way  of  Front  Royal, 
Linden,  Markham,  Piedmont,  Rectortown, 
Upperville,  and  Paris,  stealing,  in  their 
route,  all  the  stock,  cattle,  and  poultry  they 
could  find,  and  returned  to  their  camp  by 
Ashby's  Gap  and  the  Shenandoah  River,  at 
Berry's  Ferry.  The  day  after  Mosby 's  return 
from  Prince  William,  he  took  twenty  men  to 
the  Valley,  and  captured  seventeen  Federals, 
with  their  horses,  near  Winchester.  These 
prisoners  belonged  to  Custar's  cavalry,  and 


288  MOSDT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

participated  in  the  shooting  and  hanging  of 
our  men  in  Front  Royal,  in  the  month  of  Sep 
tember. 

Returning  to  Fauquier  with  his  prisoners, 
Mosby  called  a  meeting  of  the  men  at  Rector- 
town.  The  prisoners  were  drawn  up  in  a 
line,  and  all  drew  to  see  which  should  be 
hung  in  retaliation  for  those  hung  and  shot 
in  Front  Royal,  amongst  whom  were  some  of 
the  most  respectable  citizens  of  Fauquier. 
One  was  Anderson,  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
visiting  at  Markham.  A  short  time  before 
that  bloody  affair,  the  same  brigade  hung,  at 
Sandy  Hook,  Mr.  Willis,  a  Baptist  preacher, 
and  a  member  of  the  Forty-third.  This  was 
done  in  retaliation,  they  said,  for  one  of  their 
men  whom  Chancellor  killed. 

The  history  of  that  case  is  this :  A  short 
time  before  one  of  their  numerous  raids  into 
and  through  that  country,  they  sent  a  man 
ahead  to  find  out  who  had  fine  stock,  and 
where  they  hid  it.  This  fellow  represented 
himself  to  the  farmers  as  a  Confederate  sol 
dier,  escaped  from  prison.  Some  of  our  men 
who  were  travelling  through  that  portion  of 
the  country,  hearing  of  him,  concluded  he 
was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  spy.  He 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  289 

was  sought  out,  and  found  at  Mr.  Chancel 
lor's.  Being  questioned  as  to  his  business, 
&c.,  his  true  character  was  found  out.  He 
was  then  taken  out  and  shot.  A  few  days 
after  this,  a  large  column  of  the  enemy  made 
a  raid  through  there,  and,  hearing  of  this, 
burned  Mr.  Chancellor's  house,  in  retaliation 
for  the  deed.  Not  satisfied  with  that,  on 
their  return,  Willis  was  overtaken,  and  hung 
for  the  same  thing.  For  these  outrages  and 
violations  of  all  the  laws  of  wrar,  this  scene 
was  being  enacted  at  Rectortown.  One  lieu 
tenant  and  six  privates  drew  black  balls,  one 
of  the  lucky  ones  being  a  newsboy,  who  had 
no  connection  with  the  army  except  in  vend 
ing  newspapers  to  the  soldiers,  and  in  no  way 
connected  with  those  that  did  the  hanging. 
Mosby  threw  his  name  out,  and  another 
drawing,  to  make  up  the  seven,  was  held. 
The  number  being  now  complete,  the  unfor 
tunate  and  doomed  men  were  placed  under 
guard,  and  started  back  to  the  Valley,  to  pay 
the  penalty  for  their  atrocious  deeds.  In  the 
Valley  Montjoy  was  met,  returning  with  some 
prisoners.  The  lieutenant  being  a  Mason  (as 
Montjoy  was  one),  he  was  exchanged  for  a 
private,  and  the  lieutenant  went  a  prisoner  to 

25 


290  MOSBY  AXD  HIS  MEN. 

Richmond,  instead  of  to  the  gallows.  The 
night  being  very  dark  three  escaped,  but  four 
were  hung  in  sight  of  the  enemy's  camp. 
They  were  amazed,  the  next  morning,  to  see 
their  companions  in  arms  dangling  in  the  air. 

The  next  day  Mosby  wrote  to  General 
Sheridan,  explaining  the  reasons  which  com 
pelled  him  to  adopt  this  summary  and  disa 
greeable  method  of  checking  their  treatment 
of  his  men,  and  hoped  he  would  never  be 
obliged  to  do  it  again ;  but  that  if  he  or  Gen 
eral  Custar  persisted  in  treating  his  men  in 
that  manner,  he  was  ready  to  fight  them  un 
der  the  black  flag.  Mosby  then  stated  to  him 
the  number  of  his  (Sheridan's)  men  he  had 
taken  prisoners  of  war,  who  were  kindly 
treated,  and  how  many  he  (Sheridan)  had 
captured  of  his  ;  and  if  he,  with  those  facts 
staring  him  in  the  face,  continued  that  system 
of  fighting,  he  would  be  greatly  the  loser,' 
and  the  responsibility  of  his  (Mosby's)  course 
would  rest  on  his  (Sheridan's)  shoulders. 

General  Sheridan  would  not  reply  to  Mos 
by,  or  recognize  him  as  an  officer  in  the  Con 
federate  Army,  but  wrote  to  General  Early, 
then  commanding  in  the  Valley,  that  he  had 
received  a  communication  from  Mosby,  and 


MOSDY  AND  HIS  MEN.  291 

that  what  had  been  done  to  (Mosby's)  men, 
was  done  entirely  without  his  knowledge 
and  authority,  and  that  hereafter  Colonel 
Mosby's  men  would  be  treated  as  prisoners 
of  war. 

This  hanging  had  the  desired  effect.  It 
convinced  the  enemy  how  terribly  in  earnest 
we  were,  and  that  we  were  entitled  to  the 
same  privileges  that  regular  soldiers  were  en 
titled  to.  Before  this,  General  Sheridan's 
and  Kilpatrick's  Cavalry  would  offer  our  men 
every  species  of  indignity.  Instead  of  having 
a  guard  placed  over  them  while  awaiting 
transportation  to  prison,  they  were  invariably 
thrown  into  loathsome  jails  and  dungeons  in 
Warrenton.  Winchester,  and  Martinsburg. 
At  Point  Lookout,  Johnson's  Island,  Fort  Mc- 
Henry,  Fort  Delaware,  Camp  Chase,  and  other 
prisons,  we  were  special  objects  of  insult, 
torture,  and  bad  treatment.  One  brave  sol 
dier,  Uobert  Harrover,  of  Washington  City, 
whom  they  captured  in  Fairfax,  on  a  scouting- 
party  with  Frank  Williams,  and  who  the 
enemy  imagined  was  behind  every  pine-tree 
and  little  bush  in  Fairfax,  with  his  unerring 
rifle,  was  carried  to  Washington  and  tried  for 
his  life  by  the  Military  Commission,  "  For 


292  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

leaving  Washington  City  after  he  had  been 
enrolled,  and  attaching  himself  to  a  band 
of  guerillas." 

Bob  stood  his  trial,  and  the  night  after  his 
condemnation  to  the  Albany  Penitentiary  for 
fourteen  years,  took  French  leave.  Confined 
in  the  third  story  of  the  Old  Capitol  Prison, 
in  the  dead  hour  of  night  he  tore  up  his  bed 
clothes,  and  made  a  rope  by  which  he  let 
himself  down  to  the  pavement,  and  escaped, 
although  the  sentry  fired  at  him.  The  night 
being  very  dark,  he  quickly  disappeared,  and 
sought  the  house  of  a  friend  in  the  city,  who 
provided  him  with  a  suit  of  citizen's  clothes. 
Sallying  out  the  next  morning,  he  passed 
through  Georgetown  and  Rockville  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  bargaining 
for  poultry  and  supplies  for  the  hospitals. 
Beyond  Eockville  he  overtook  a  party  of  five 
Marylanders,  going  South.  All  being  pro 
vided  with  pocket-pistols,  they  took  a  picket 
post,  and  mounting  themselves,  pushed  on 
rapidly  to  the  Potomac,  and  crossed  over  into 
Virginia,  near  Leesburg,  and  reached  the 
Confederacy,  after  eleven  months'  imprison 
ment. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


ESCAPES  FROM  PRISON  —  HALL'S  ESCAPE  — MAGNER'S  ESCAPE  —  ELIMI 
NATION  OF  SKULKERS  —  MONTJOY  LEARNS  SOMETHING  ABOUT 
BHASILER. 


DURING  this  year,  1864,  no  less  than 
thirty  of  our  men  escaped  from  prison 
and  the  guards  over  them.  Charlie  Hall, 
who  was  a  prisoner  of  Colonel  Cole's,  and 
was  awaiting  transportation  to  prison  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  obtaining  a  Federal  overcoat, 
asked  of  the  guard  permission  to  go  to 
Colonel  Cole's  headquarters.  Instead  of 
going  to  Colonel  Cole's  headquarters,  lie 
walked  out  of  camp  uninterrupted,  and  re 
ported  at  Mosby's  the  next  day. 

Magner.  of  Mississippi,  was  captured  in 
Paris  in  the  night,  by  taking  the  enemy  for 
our  own  cavalry.  He  was  carried  to  Harper's 
Ferry  a  prisoner.  Having  on  a  very  fine  uni 
form  of  the  Confederate  gray,  he  exchanged 
it  with  a  Jessie  scout  for  a  Federal  uniform. 

25*  (293) 


294  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

While  waiting  for  transportation  to  Camp 
Chase,  a  large  body  of  troops  passed  through 
Harper's  Ferry,  to  reenforce  Sheridan  in  the 
Valley.  At  a  moment  when  he  was  not 
watched  closely,  he  fell  into  the  column  as  a 
common  soldier,  limping,  as  if  wearied  with 
his  march.  His  comrades  asked  him  where 
his  gun  was.  "  In  the  wagon,"  replied  Mag- 
ner,  and  passed  on,  without  attracting  any 
further  notice.  Watching  his  chances  to 
escape,  he  straggled,  and  sought  refuge  in 
the  mountains,  where  he  remained  all  night. 
Next  day  he  was  discovered  by  a  scouting- 
party,  who  gave  him  chase.  Jumping  down 
an  embankment  of  fifty  feet,  which  dislocated 
his  shoulder,  he  plunged  into  the  Shenan- 
doah,  swam  across  with  one  arm,  and  was 
free  once  more.  The  next  day  he  reached 
Fauquier. 

On  the  llth  of  November,  an  inspection 
of  the  battalion  was  held  at  Eectortown. 
Five  hundred  men  reported  to  their  names  at 
roll-call.  This  inspection  was  held  at  the 
request  of  Mosby.  A  large  number  of  men 
had  connected  themselves  with  the  battalion, 
whose  names  were  on  the  rolls  of  the  regular 
army,  and  who,  thinking  to  shirk  military 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  295 

duty,  came  up  and  joined  the  Forty-third. 
They  were  a  set  of  men  who  very  seldom 
went  on  a  raid  ;  and  when  they  did  go,  and 
there  was  .any  fighting  or  horses  captured, 
would  lag  behind,  and  when  it  was  all  over, 
would  lead  the  horses  out,  take  the  green 
backs  from  the  prisoners,  and  when  near  their 
homes  would  flank  out  with  a  horse,  and  never 
come  up  to  a  division  of  the  property.  In 
that  way  they  lived.  This  kind  of  men 
Mosby  did  not  want,  and  would  not  have ; 
and  he  adopted  this  method  of  getting  them 
together  with  the  determination  of  sending 
them  to  Richmond,  to  be  put  in  the  trenches. 
Captain  Meade,  of  General  Early 's  staff, 
was  the  inspecting  officer.  The  names  of 
these  men  had  been  previously  obtained  from 
the  captains  of  the  companies.  When  their 
names  were  called,  and  they  appeared  before 
the  Colonel  and  Inspector,  they  were  relieved 
of  the  equipments  furnished  by  Mosby,  and 
placed  under  guard.  Eighty  names  were 
struck  from  our  rolls  that  day,  and  started 
for  Richmond  under  a  guard  of  twenty-three 
men.  Out  of  the  eighty,  only  twenty-three 
were  turned  over  to  Major  Boyle,  Provost  Mar 
shal  at  Gordonsville.  Some  of  them  escaped 


296  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

by  jumping  out  of  a  window  in  the  third  story 
of  a  house  ;  others  would  leave  their  horses, 
&c.  After  inspection,  the  men  were  dis 
banded,  to  go  to  their  homes  and  await 
further  orders. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  a  meeting  of 
Company  D  was  held  at  Paris.  Thirty  men 
reported  for  duty,  and  started  on  a  raid  into 
the  Valley,  commanded  by  Captain  Montjoy. 
They  passed  through  Ashby's  Gap  at  noon, 
and  the  Shenandoah  River  at  the  Island  Ford 
one  mile  below  Berry's  Ferry.  Montjoy  then 
shaped  his  course  in  the  direction  of  Win 
chester,  avoiding  on  his  march  the  public 
roads  and  highways.  His  movements  in  the 
Y alley  being  entirely  under  cover  of  night, 
he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  vicinity  of  Win 
chester  without  being  observed  by  any  one, 
either  friend  or  foe.  Concealing  himself  and 
men  in  a  piece  of  woodland  until  day,  and 
resting  and  feeding  their  horses  at  sunrise,  he 
sallied  out  in  quest  of  game. 

It  was  not  long  before  Montjoy,  who  was 
ahead  some  distance  prospecting,  came  back 
and  reported  the  enemy  advancing  in  a  force 
he  intended  to  attack.  He  drew  up  his  men 
for  the  charge  under  a  hill  about  one  hun- 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  297 

dred  yards  from  the  road  leading  from  Win 
chester  to  Newtown.  The  enemy  moved  up 
slowly  and  carelessly,  and  little  dreamed  they 
were  marching  into  the  lion's  jaws,  or  that  a 
mere  handful  of  Johnnies  (one  third  their 
number)  were  lying  a  few  rods  from  them, 
eager  for  the  fray.  When  they  were 
directly  opposite  his  men,  Montjoy  ordered 
the  charge.  The  enemy  were  struck  on  the 
flank  and  rear.  So  great  was  the  suprise, 
and  impetuous  the  charge,  that  little  or  no 
resistance  was  shown  by  them.  They  all,  to 
a  man,  put  spurs  to  their  horses,  to  escape 
the  best  way  they  could.  Twelve,  however, 
bit  the  dust  in  the  space  of  about  one  mile, 
and  seventeen  were  captured,  including  the 
same  number  of  horses. 

On  Montjoy's  return  to  Fauquier,  while 
passing  through  Berry ville,  he  met  Captain 
Brasher,  alias  Blazer,  with  about  seventy-five 
men.  The  meeting  wras  a  surprise  to  both 
parties,  and  had  Captain  Montjoy,  instead  of 
inquiring  who  they  were,  charged  through 
them,  as  Mosby  would  have  done,  Brasher 
would  have  been  routed,  and  his  men  scat 
tered  over  the  whole  Valley.  But  during  the 
colloquy,  time  was  afforded  Brasher  to  form 


298 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 


his  men  by  one  of  his  lieutenants  (Cole),  and 
thus  get  the  bulge  on  Montjoy,  which  resulted 
in  a  precipitate  retreat.  Captain  Montjoy 
and  his  men  were  pursued  to  the  Shenan- 
doah  River,  losing  two  men  killed  and  five 
wounded,  besides  abandoning  all  his  capture. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 


THE  BRAVE  BRASHER  DEFEATED  AND  TAKEN  PRISONER  —  MAGNA 
NIMITY  OF  BRAVE  MEN  — CAPTURES— CAPTURES  RE-CAPTURED  — 
ESCAPE  OF  YOUNG  ROLLING. 


ON  the  17th  of  November,  the  First 
Squadron,  Companies  A  and  B,  met  at 
Bloomfield,  while  the  Second  Squadron,  Com 
panies  C,  E,  and  F,  met  at  Paris,  and  went 
into  the  Valley,  capturing  four  horses  and 
three  prisoners  near  Winchester,  and  returned 
on  the  18th.  The  First  Squadron,  com 
manded  by  Captain  A.  E.  Richards,  crossed 
the  mountains  at  Snicker's  Gap,  and  the  Shen- 
andoah  River  at  Castleman's  Ferry.  From 
there  Richards  pushed  on  down  the  Valley  to 
Cabletown,  in  search  of  Captain  Brasher. 
Reaching  Cabletown,  Richards  learned  that 
Brasher  had  just  gone  in  search  of  him,  in 
the  direction  of  Rock  Ford.  Getting  on  his 
track,  Richards  followed  him  up,  and,  when 

(299) 


300  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

about  midway  between  the   Ford  and  Cable- 
town,  met  him  in  an  open  field. 

Company  B  halted  under  a  hill,  while  Com 
pany  A  was  sent  ahead,  to  pull  down  a 
fence.  Brasher,  thinking  A  retreating, 
charged  them  ;  but  before  reaching  Company 
A,  Richards,  with  Company  B,  charged  them 
on  their  flank.  A  desperate  fight  ensued,  a 
portion  of  which  was  hand-to-hand.  The 
enemy  broke  and  retreated  in  confusion,  and 
were  pursued  for  several  miles.  The  field 
was  strewn  with  their  dead  and  wounded. 
Brasher,  who  fought  as  no  Federal  soldier 
ever  fought  before,  after  a  hand-to-hand  fight 
with  Sidney  Ferguson,  who  knocked  him  off 
his  horse  with  a  pistol,  surrendered.  Thirty- 
one  of  the  enemy  were  killed  and  wounded ; 
nineteen  were  taken  prisoners,  together  with 
thirty-nine  fine  horses.  Brasher,  when  he 
made  the  attack,  had  six  prisoners  with  him, 
—  three  of  General  Lomax's  men,  and  three 
of  ours,  whom  they  had  captured  the  day 
before  in  the  Valley.  Puryear,  one  of  them, 
as  soon  as  he  was  liberated,  picked  up  a  club 
in  one  hand,  and  with  a  pistol  which  he  had 
borrowed,  in  the  other,  went  in,  knocking 
down  on  one  side  and  shooting  on  the  other. 


MOSB7  AND  HIS  MEN.  301 

Richards  had  one  man  killed  and  six  wounded. 
He  had  only  seventy-five  men  vvith  him,  while 
Brasher  had  his  whole  command  (one  hun 
dred  men)  with  him.  Brasher  complimented 
Richards  highly  for  his  bravery  and  skill  in 
the  management  of  his  men,  saying  he  never 
saw  men  fight  better,  and  that  he  had  been 
whipped  fairly,  a  compliment  that  affected 
Harry  Hatcher  so  sensibly,  that  he  could 
not  refrain  from  embracing  the  old  soldier, 
although  he  was  a  foe. 

When  the  North  heard  of  this  complete 
overthrow  of  the  man  who  had  been  taken 
from  the  regular  army,  and  sent  to  the  Valley 
with  one  hundred  picked  men,  to  "  dean  out 
Moxby"  by  one  third  fewer  men  than  he  had, 
and  armed  with  nothing  but  pistols,  their 
newspapers  teemed  with  explanations,  and 
insisted  that  the  case  was  not  so  bad  as  was 
at  first  supposed.  It  might  not  have  been  so  ; 
but  one  thing  is  certain,  Captain  Brasher  was 
so  crippled  in  this  engagement,  that  his  men 
who  escaped  never  made  another  raid  into 
our  Confederacy,  or  exchanged  shots  on  the 
battle-field.  When  he  was  exchanged,  the 
authorities  gave  a  Confederate  Colonel  for 
this  captain. 

26 


302  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

On  the  20th  of  November,  a  meeting  of  the 
members  of  Company  F  was  held  at  Paris. 
Lieutenant  Frank  Trurun,  commanding,  took 
twenty-five  men,  crossed  the  mountains  and 
entered  the  Valley,  and  captured,  near  Sum 
mit  Point,  eight  prisoners,  and  the  same 
number  of  mules  and  horses.  Sending  them 
out  with  a  guard  of  five  men,  he  pushed  on 
with  the  remaining  twenty  to  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Winchester,  and  captured  on  the 
22d  fifteen  prisoners  and  fifteen  horses,  and 
returned  to  Fauquier,  on  the  23d,  without  loss. 

On  the  21st,  Companies  C  and  D  met  at 
Paris,  Montjoy  commanding.  Mosby  took 
them  into  the  Valley,  and  on  the  22d,  when 
near  Winchester,  captured  nineteen  prisoners 
and  seventeen  mules,  which  were  brought  out 
and  sold  to  the  Government. 

On  the  23d  of  November,  Companies  C 
and  E  met  at  Paris.  Only  sixty-five  men 
reported  for  duty.  At  four  o'clock  P.M.,  led 
by  Lieutenant  John  Russell,  they  passed 
through  Ashby's  Gap,  and  crossed  the  Shen- 
andoah  River  at  Berry's  Ferry.  Russell  then 
moved  in  the  direction  of  White  Post.  Here 
he  hid  his  men  in  the  woods,  until  Mosby  and 
Captain  William  Chapman  should  come  up. 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  303 

They  arrived  at  midnight,  after  a  short  rest. 
Lookouts  were  posted  on  all  the  roads,  to 
watch  for  wagon-trains.  Seeing  nothing, 
they  were  called  in,  and  Mosby  moved  his 
men  nearer  Winchester.  While  emerging 
from  a  piece  of  wood,  they  saw  a  train  of 
wagons  in  the  distance.  Pushing  up  his  men, 
Mosby  charged  the  train,  and  followed  it  into 
General  Powell's  cavalry  camp  of  two  thou 
sand  men.  The  enemy  fled  in  all  directions, 
leaving  Mosby  to  start  out  with  one  hundred 
and  fifty  prisoners  and  two  hundred  horses 
and  mules.  The  enemy,  however,  rallied  and 
pursued  Mosby.  Mosby's  horse  became  un 
manageable,  broke  his  bit,  and  ran  away. 
The  men  followed  him,  and  were  pushed  so 
close  as  to  necessitate  an  abandonment  of  all 
the  prisoners  and  captured  property. 

In  the  retreat,  Captain  Chapman  had  his 
horse  killed  under  him.  John  Kirwin,  one 
of  his  men,  dismounted  from  his  Rosinante, 
and  gave  him  to  his  captain,  while  he  him 
self  jumped  up  behind  another  man,  and 
came  out  safe.  Young  Boiling  had  his  horse 
shot,  and  fell  with  him,  playing  dead.  The 
enemy  came  up,  took  one  thousand  two  hun 
dred  dollars  out  of  his  pocket,  and  passed  on. 


304  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

After  they  had  all  disappeared,  Boiling  got 
up,  shook  himself,  and  started  afoot  to  Fau- 
quier.  Angelo,  alias  Mocking-bird,  was  cap 
tured,  and  taken  to  Martinsburg  and  put  in 
jail.  During  the  first  night  of  his  incarcera 
tion,  he  opened  the  jail  door,  walked  out,  and 
escaped,  reaching  Fauquier  the  next  day. 
These  were  all  the  casualties  on  this  raid. 
The  pursuit  terminated  at  Millwood,  five  miles 
from  the  Shenandoah  River. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 


DEATH  OF  MONTJOY  —  BURNING  OF  JOE  BLACKWELL'S  HOUSE,  MOS- 
BY'S  HEADQUARTERS  —  A  LOYAL  TRANSACTION  IN  WOOL  —  RAID 
OF  CUSTAR  AND  OTHERS — DESTRUCTION  AND  DESOLATION. 


ON  the  26th  of  this  month,  the  First  and 
Second  Squadrons  met  at  Bloomfield. 
Two  hundred  men  reported  for  duty.  Mosby, 
placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  column, 
moved  off  to  Snickersville.  Passing  through 
the  Gap  and  crossing  the  Shenandoah  River, 
he  pushed  on  to  Charlestown,  to  attack  a 
cavalry  camp  at  that  place.  On  reaching 
Charlestown,  it  was  found  that  Captain  Bay 
lor,  of  the  regular  army,  had  attacked  them 
the  night  before,  and  they  had  been  reen- 
forced  with  three  hundred  infantry  posted  in 
a  church  near  by.  Deeming  it  inexpedient  to 
make  an  attack,  Mosby  abandoned  the  expe 
dition,  disbanded  his  men,  and  all  returned. 
The  Second  Squadron  met  the  same  day  at 
Paris,  crossed  over  into  the  Valley,  and  cap- 

26*  (£05) 


306  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

tured  only  three  horses  and  three  Feds,  and 
returned. 

Montjoy,  with  Company  D,  went  to  London 
County  after  Keyes,  who  had  been  raiding 
there  with  impunity.  Entering  Leesburg, 
Montjoy  met  and  attacked  him.  Keyes  made 
a  precipitate  retreat  towards  his  rendezvous, 
the  Point  of  Rocks,  with  Montjoy  after  him. 
Three  miles  from  town,  Montjoy,  being  far 
ahead  of  his  men,  was  bushwhacked,  and 
received  a  mortal  wound  in  the  head,  just 
over  the  eye.  He  was  carried  to  Leesburg  by 
his  men,  and  left  in  charge  of  kind  and  warm 
friends.  Here  he  lingered  only  a  few  hours. 

In  the  fall  of  Captain  R.  P.  Montjoy,  Mosby 
lost  one  of  the  most  brilliant  officers  in  his 
command,  gallant  and  brave  to  a  fault.  A 
poor  boy  from  Mississippi,  he  raised  him 
self  to  the  command  of  Company  D  by  his 
own  industry.  Through  his  sobriety,  skill, 
courage,  and  amiable  manners,  he  enjoyed 
the  esteem  of  his  men  and  the  confidence 
of  his  commander.  Twenty-four  horses  and 
fifteen  prisoners  were  brought  away,  the  fall 
of  Montjoy  being  the  only  casualty.  Jim 
Chilton  and  Bob  Crawford  distinguished 
themselves  in  this  engagement  by  their  dash 
ing  conduct. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  307 

While  we  were  absent  this  month  on  a 
raid,  the  enemy  came  up  from  Falls  Church 
and  burnt  Joe  Black  well's  house,  Mosby's 
headquarters.  Their  treatment  of  Mr.  Black- 
well's  family  was  of  a  most  unsoldierly  char 
acter.  The  family  were  turned  out  of  doors, 
and  not  even  permitted  to  take  with  them  a 
change  of  clothing.  Nothing  was  left  on  the 
plantation  but  the  spring-house.  They  even 
applied  the  torch  to  the  chicken-coops.  In 
the  destruction  of  this  house,  Colonel  Mosby 
lost  all  his  reports,  correspondence,  and  other 
valuable  papers  pertaining  to  the  command. 
After  the  destruction  of  Mr.  BlackwelTs 
house,  Colonel  Mosby  established  his  head 
quarters  at  Holland's  Factory,  two  miles  and 
a  half  from  Rectortown.  This  factory  derived 
its  name  from  the  owner,  Mr.  Holland,  a 
Union  man.  Attached  to  the  factory  was  the 
private  residence  of  Mr.  Holland,  who  owned 
the  factory. 

While  Holland  was  absent  in  Washington, 
the  tolls  from  the  carding  of  the  wool  were 
very  heavy ;  and  after  a  large  quantity  had 
accumulated  on  Mrs.  Holland's  hands,  she 
would  communicate  the  fact  to  Mr.  Holland. 
He  would  then  bring  a  large  force  of  the 


308  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

enemy  up  to  the  factory,  by  whom  the  wool 
was  carried  out  in  the  road  and  set  on  fire. 
The  enemy  leaving  immediately,  a  stream  of 
water  was  turned  on  it  and  the  fire  extin 
guished.  Holland  would  return  to  Washing 
ton,  file  his  claim,  and  get  pay  for  his 
wool ;  and  it  is  a  notorious  fact  in  Fauquier, 
he  has  told  reliable  citizens  there,  that  he 
received  pay  from  the  Government  for  every 
pound  burnt,  and  in  some  burnings  treble  the 
amount  that  he  had  on  hand.  Here  Mosby 
held  his  headquarters  until  the  surrender,  and 
although  the  enemy  made  repeated  visits  to 
this  factory,  they  never  disturbed  anything. 

On  the  28th  of  November,  a  dense  fog 
hung  over  Fauquier  all  day :  so  thick  was 
it  that  objects  could  not  be  distinguished  a 
distance  of  ten  yards.  The  enemy,  availing 
themselves  of  it,  crossed  the  Shenandoah 
River  at  Berry's  Ferry  with  three  divisions 
(about  eight  thousand  cavalry),  and  made  that 
celebrated  raid  through  Fauquier  and  Loudon 
Counties,  in  which  they  burnt  every  barn, 
stable,  wheat,  hay,  and  straw-rick,  and  mill, 
and  everything  that  man  or  beast  could  sub 
sist  upon,  and  all  the  stock,  cattle,  &c.,  they 
could  see  were  driven  off.  The  divisions  con- 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  309 

sisted  of  Custar's,  Torbert's,  and  Merritt's. 
Commencing  at  Peter  Hartman's,  Mrs.  Ed 
monds',  and  William  Hopper's,  they  burnt 
every  mill,  —  including  the  celebrated  Reed 
Mill,  whose  flour  took  the  premium  at  the 
World's  Fair  in  London,  —  barn,  stable,  hay 
and  straw-rick  and  wheat-stack,  and  even 
shocks  of  corn  in  the  field ;  every  cow,  horse, 
sheep,  and  hog  they  could  see  was  driven  off, 
not  a  single  thing  being  left  for  the  people  to 
subsist  upon  except  a  little  the  people  had 
hid  in  the  mountains,  for  an  emergency. 
When  hogs  had  been  killed  by  the  farmers 
and  hung  up  to  cool  off,  these  men  would  take 
an  axe,  chop  the  hams  off,  and  drop  the  re 
mainder  in  the  mud.  One  mile  from  Upper- 
ville,  where  they  camped  the  first  night,  a 
widow  lady,  Mrs.  Fletcher,  was  having  a  load 
of  hogs  brought  home  from  a  neighbor's  to 
salt.  When  the  wagon  crossed  the  turnpike 
going  to  Mrs.  Fletcher's,  the  enemy  took  her 
oxen  to  their  camp  and  burnt  up  the  wagon 
with  the  pork.  This  was  all  the  meat  that 
poor  widow  had  to  feed  her  children  with  the 
ensuing  summer. 

The  next  day  they  established  their  head 
quarters  at  Snickersville,  and  remained  there 


310  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

for  three  days,  and  during  that  time  applied 
the   torch  to  everything  except  the  houses  : 
these  they  robbed.     In  some  portions  of  Lou- 
don,  Quakers  and  Union  citizens  were  spared ; 
but  along  under  the  mountains,  from  Semper's 
Mill  to  Leesburg,  none  escaped  the  fury  of 
the  enemy.     The  poor  people,  with  only  one 
cow  for  their  subsistence,  were  deprived  of  it. 
If  old   Satan  himself  had  thrown  open  the 
gates  of  hell,  and  turned  loose  all  the  devils 
in  there,  they  could  not  have  inflicted  greater 
misery  and  woe  than  Custar's,  Torbert's,  and 
Merritt's  cavalry  inflicted  on  these  people  in 
this  raid.     To  see  that  they  did  their  work 
of    destruction    thoroughly,    General    Custar 
himself,  the   second  day  after  he  crossed  at 
Berry's  Ferry,  with  a  large  force  scoured  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains  from  Snickersville  to 
Ashby's  Gap.     On  entering  Paris,  and  halt 
ing    with    his    body-guard    in   front   of   Mr. 
Adams's,  keeper  of  the  hotel,  he  ordered  his 
men    "  to    get   to    work    and    complete    the 
destruction  of  everything  that   might  be  of 
service  to  Mosby,"  and  to  show  his  men  no 
quarter.     Two  of  his  body-guard  went  to  Mr. 
Hartman,   to  get   their   rations.     While    one 
was  in  the  milk-house,  doing  his  dirty  work, 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  311 

Sid  Ferguson  rode  up  and  seized  him  by  the 
collar  and  carried  him  off.  General  Custar, 
fearing  he  might  meet  with  the  same  fate, 
made  a  hasty  retreat  to  Mrs.  Hicks's,  two  miles 
down  the  turnpike,  where  he  rejoined  a  por 
tion  of  his  men,  who  had  swept  everything 
before  them. 

How  agreeable  must  have  been  General 
Custar's  reflections,  as  he  viewed  from  the  top 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  immense  clouds  of  smoke 
and  flame,  arising  from  smouldering  ruins,  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  —  the  ruins  of  the 
houses  of  a  once  happy  and  prosperous  peo 
ple,  now  reduced  to  absolute  beggary  by  his 
hand  and  edict.  Recollections  of  that  char 
acter  may  be  drowned  in  the  excitement  of 
active  life  and  the  storm  of  the  battle-field, 
but  on  the  death-bed  they  will  rise  up  as  they 
appeared  to  him  on  the  29th  day  of  Novem 
ber,  1864. 

About  fifty  of  the  burners  were  captured 
and  shot.  One  was  taken  to  Mount  Eddy, 
and  with  his  eyes  looking  down  on  the  smok 
ing  ruins  wrought  by  his  own  hands,  was 
hung.  At  Mrs.  Burns's,  near  Upperville, 
they  caught  John  Thomas,  of  Company  A, 
and  beat  him,  as  they  thought,  to  death.  He, 


312  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

however,  "played  possum,"  and,  after  they 
left,  got  up,  minus  his  pistols  and  pocket- 
book.  Fully  realizing  his  situation,  John 
took  a  position  on  the  roadside,  and  waited 
for  something  to  turn  up.  While  he  was  re 
flecting  on  the  vicissitudes  of  a  partisan  ran 
ger's  life,  a  straggler  came  along.  Thomas 
seized  the  reins  of  the  horse  with  one  hand, 
and  with  the  other  hand  dismounted  his  ad 
versary  before  he  had  time  to  draw  his  pistols. 
Securing  them,  and  mounting  the  fellow's 
horse,  he  escaped  to  the  mountains  just  as 
the  rear-guard  was  coming  in  sight. 


WILLIAM    K.  SMITH. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 


INTENSE    COLD    INTERFERES    WITH    OPERATIONS  —  MO8BY    SEVERELY 
-WOUNDED— DILIGENT    SEARCH    FOR    HIM  — THE  NEST  WARM,  BUT 
THE    BIRD    FLOWN  —  PROMOTIONS  —  "FEAST    OF    REASON,"    ETC. — 
MAJOR  RICHARDS  "  PROCURES  SUPPLIES." 


ON  the  2d  of  December,  Mosby  started   to 
Richmond,   to    make    arrangements    for 
forage  for  his  men's  horses  for  the  next  cam 
paign,  and  lay  the  matter  of  this  burning  be 
fore  the  President. 

On  the  3d  of  December,  a  meeting  of  the 
whole  battalion  was  held  at  Upperville.  The 
First  squadron  went  into  the  Valley,  crossing 
at  Snicker's  Gap  and  Castleman's  Ferry. 
Proceeding  then  to  Charlestown,  and  finding 
no  enemy,  Captain  A.  E.  Richards  pushed  on 
to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  at  Duf- 
field  Station,  placing  obstructions  on  the 
track,  to  capture  a  train  of  cars.  After  wait 
ing  patiently  all  night  for  on.e  to  approach, 
and  none  making  its  appearance,  the  men 
were  disbanded,  and  all  returned  to  Fauquier. 

27  (313) 


314  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

The  Second  squadron,  commanded  by  Cap 
tain  William  H.  Chapman,  crossed  over  into 
the  Valley  at  Berry's  Ferry,  and  when  near 
the  White  Post,  were  attacked  by  an  over 
whelming  force  of  the  enemy,  which  neces 
sitated  their  retreat.  That  was  effected  with 
out  loss  or  injury. 

On  the  7th  of  December  another  inspection 
of  the  command  was  held  at  Kectortown. 
Captain  Clary,  of  General  Early's  staff,  was 
the  inspecting  officer  ;  but  no  further  details 
were  made  to  the  regular  army.  After  in 
spection,  Captain  Richards,  of  Company  13, 
and  commandant  of  the  First  squadron,  de 
tailed  forty  men,  with  fast  horses,  to  meet 
him  the  next  day  (Thursday),  at  two  o'clock, 
at  Snickersville. 

In  compliance  with  Richards's  order,  the 
men  met  him.  He  then  started  on  a  raid  to 
the  Valley,  crossing  the  mountains  at  Snick 
er's  Gap,  and  Shenandoah  lliver  at  Castle- 
man's  Ferry.  Penetrating  the  enemy's  lines 
to  within  five  miles  of  Martinsburg,  and  cap 
turing  only  two  Federals,  he  changed  his 
course,  and  struck  for  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  near  Duffield  Station.  When  about 
half  way  a  violent  snow-storm  set  in  and  com- 


MOSDY  AND  HIS  MEN.  315 

polled  him  to  return  to  Fauquier.  As  it 
snowed  all  that  night,  Richards's  men  suffered 
severely.  He  reached  headquarters,  however, 
without  loss  or  serious  injury,  although  the 
mercury  stood  below  zero  during  his  entire 
absence. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  Captain  Sam 
Chapman,  commanding  Company  E,  took 
thirty  of  his  men  into  the  Valley,  crossing  at 
Ashby's  Gap,  and  the  river  at  Island  Forde, 
in  a  terrible  snow-storm.  He  bivouacked 
that  night  on  the  banks  of  the  Shenandoah, 
and  at  four  o'clock  the  next  morning  mounted 
his  men  and  attacked  a  picket  post  at  the  toll- 
gate,  near  Millwood,  before  day,  with  great 
success,  capturing  five  Federals  and  eleven 
horses,  without  loss. 

On  the  night  of  the  21st  of  December, 
Colonel  Mosby,  with  only  one  man  (Love), 
was  surprised  and  wounded.  He  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Philistines  at  Mr.  Lake's,  near 
Rector's  Cross  Roads.  Colonel  Mosby,  with 
young  Love,  was  returning  from  a  scouting 
expedition  in  one  of  the  lower  counties,  and, 
feeling  very  much  fatigued,  they  stopped  in 
at  Mr.  Lake's,  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  to  re 
fresh  themselves  with  a  cup  of  genuine  coffee. 


316  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.       ' 

Believing  no  enemy  to  be  nearer  than  Middle- 
burg,  he  went  into  the  house.  However,  to 
guard  against  any  accident  or  surprise,  he  put 
Love  on  picket,  to  watch  the  road  leading  to 
the  Cross  Roads.  He  had  been  in  the  house 
but  a  few  minutes,  when  a  party  of  one  hun 
dred  of  the  Eighth  Illinois  cavalry  came  up 
the  Salem  road  and  captured  Love  before  he 
could  give  any  alarm  by  firing  his  pistol. 
Mosby,  hearing  an  unusual  noise,  like  the 
rattling  of  sabres,  in  the  road,  jumped  up 
from  the  table  and  went  to  the  door  to  see 
what  was  the  matter.  On  his  opening  the 
front  door,  a  large  squad  was  waiting  for  him, 
who  instantly  demanded  his  surrender.  Clos 
ing  that  door,  he  retreated  to  the  back  door, 
but  found  no  avenue  of  escape  through  it,  as 
a  large  squad  were  there.  He  then  concluded, 
as  a  last  resort,  to  try  one  of  the  front  win 
dows,  thinking  that  by  jumping  through  it 
into  the  darkness  amongst  them,  he  might, 
in  the  confusion,  escape  unobserved.  Divest 
ing  himself  of  his  elegant  military  coat  and 
jacket,  with  no  insignia  of  rank  on,  or  of  his 
being  a  Confederate  soldier,  except  a  pair  of 
gray  pantaloons,  he  approached  the  window, 
when  he  was  fired  upon  from  the  road,  and 
fell,  dangerously  wounded. 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  317 

The  Miss  Lakes,  fearing  Mosby's  rank 
would  betray  him,  took  his  jacket  (which  had 
two  stars  on  the  collar),  and  hid  it  under  a 
lounge.  The  enemy,  as  soon  as  Mosby  fell, 
rushed  into  the  house  to  see  what  officer  it 
was  they  had  shot,  through  the.  window. 
They  were  met  at  the  door  by  Miss  Lake, 
who  told  them  "  That  man  you  shot  is  dying ! " 
Several  of  them  went  into  the  room  where  he 
was  stretched  out  on  the  floor,  in  the  throes 
of  death.  He  could  yet  speak  a  little.  On 
being  asked  what  his  name  was,  and  where 
shot,  he  told  them  he  was  "  Lieutenant  John 
son ,  of  the  Third  Virginia  cavalry'1  His 
speech  failing  him  at  that  moment,  and  the 
enemy  imagining  he  was  really  dying,  relieved 
him  of  his  boots,  military  cloak,  pocketbook, 
and  papers,  and  left  him.  Love,  who  was  a 
prisoner  in  the  road,  had  all  this  time  kept 
silent  as  to  who  the  officer  was  in  the  house. 
In  the  meanwhile,  some  of  the  party  who 
were  in  the  house,  rejoined  the  column  in 
the  road,  and  related  what  had  transpired. 
Love,  overhearing  the  conversation,  and  feel 
ing  the  greatest  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  his 
colonel,  and  seeing  they  did  not  know  who  it 
was,  "  took  the  cue,"  and  determined  not  to 

27* 


318  •  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

tell  them,  and  thus  afford  Mr.  Lake  an  op 
portunity  (if  Mosby  was  not  too  dangerously 
wounded,)  to  carry  him  to  a  safe  place. 

Love  was  carried  to  Middleburg.  On  the 
road  he  was  interrogated  as  to  who  that  of 
ficer  was  in  the  house.  He  replied  that  he 
was  a  stranger  to  him,  but  he  understood  his 
name  to  be  Lieutenant  Johnson,  of  the  Reg 
ular  Service.  The  enemy,  satisfied  it  was 
not  their  great  terror  (Mosby),  troubled  them 
selves  no  further  about  him  until  they  reached 
their  camp,  when  on  examining  the  papers  in 
the  pockets  of  the  clothes  they  had  taken 
from  Lieutenant  Johnson,  to  their  utter 
amazement,  they  found  it  was  no  other  person 
than  the  veritable  John  S.  Mosby,  and  not 
Lieutenant  Johnson !  The  greatest  excite 
ment  prevailed  in  and  through  the  camp. 
The  command  "  to  horse,"  was  instantly  given 
by  the  officer  in  command,  and  the  whole 
force  started  back  to  Mr.  Lake's,  to  secure 
Lieutenant  Johnson,  and  bring  him  to  camp, 
dead  or  alive. 

The  return  was  a  most  exciting  march. 
Men  vied  with  their  officers  to  reach  Mr. 
Lake's  first.  Mr.  Lake,  however,  who  was  a 
great  admirer  and  warm  personal  friend  of 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  319 

Colonel  Mosby,   had    not    been     unmindful 
of  the  Colonel's  critical  situation,  and  what  a 
serious  loss  his  capture  would  be  to  the  people 
of  Fauquier,  and  the  Confederacy.     Without 
considering  the  treatment  he  would  receive  at 
their  hands,  Mr.  Lake,  as  soon  as  the  enemy 
left   the    house,    yoked   up    his    steers,    and 
placed  him  in  an  ox-cart,  in  an  almost  dying 
condition,  and  drove  him  through  the  fields, 
(to  prevent  the  enemy's  getting  on  his  track) 
to  Mr.  Quilly  Glasscock's,  father  of  Lieuten 
ant  Glasscock,  a  mile  and  a  half  distant  on 
Goose  Creek,  and  off  the  public  road.     Ere 
Mosby    had    reached    Mr.    Glasscock's,    the 
enemy   were   back    to    Mr.  Lake's   for   their 
prize  ;    but  the  bird  had  flown.     The  house 
was   searched   diligently,  but  no  one    found. 
They  raved.     The  ladies  of  the  house  were 
taken  out  and  interrogated  as  to  where  that 
wounded  man  was,  and  told  that  if  they  did 
not  tell,  their  house  should  be  burned  down. 
The  only  reply  they  received  was,  "  Burn  on, 
we  do  not  know  where  he  is." 

The  enemy,  satisfying  themselves  he  was  not 
on  Mr.  Lake's  premises,  and  not  knowing  at 
what  moment  they  might  be  attacked  at  that 
hour  of  the  night,  fell  into  line  and  moved 


320  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

back  to  their  camp,  with,  the  intention  of  re 
newing  the  search  the  next  morning. 

At  Mr.  Glasscock's,  Dr.  Dunn,  surgeon  of 
the  battalion,  and  Dr.  Eliason,  late  of  General 
Stuart's  Staff,  were  soon  at  his  side.  His 
wound  was  pronounced  dangerous  and  pain 
ful,  being  through  the  side,  just  below  the 
ribs,  producing  internal  bleeding,  so  that  he 
was  not  in  a  condition  to  be  moved.  Yet  he 
was  kept  in  an  ambulance,  with  fleet  horses 
harnessed  up,  ready  to  be  moved  in  an 
emergency. 

The  enemy  returned  next  day,  and  after  a 
fruitless  search  returned  that  evening  to  Fair 
fax.  Doctors  Dunn  and  Eliason  pronouncing 
Mosby's  wounds  too  dangerous  to  admit  of  his 
being  moved,  the  men  were  employed  in 
picketing  all  the  roads,  to  give  notice  of  the 
approach  of  the  enemy.  For  fear  the  enemy 
might  find  out  Mosby's  whereabouts,  he  was 
moved  in  the  night  from  one  neighbor's  house 
to  another,  by  which  means  they  were  not 
only  ignorant  of  where  he  was,  but  even  his 
own  men  did  not  know.  His  men,  however, 
knew  he  was  in  the  neighborhood,  and  that 
was  all. 

The  Monday  night  after  he  was  shot,  he 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  321 

was  carried  to  Salem.  Tuesday  morning  five 
thousand  Federal  cavalry  arrived  in  Salem, 
on  their  return  to  the  Valley  from  a  raid 
through  Rappahannock  and  Madison  Coun 
ties,  to  Gordonsville.  They  had  heard  of 
Mosby's  being  wounded,  and  were  looking  out 
for  him,  knowing  his  friends  would  endeavor 
to  get  him  inside  of  our  lines,  or  to  his  father's 
in  Amherst  County.  In  Salem  all  inquired 
where  he  was,  and  large  rewards  were  offered 
for  the  information.  "  No  one  knows"  was  all 
they  could  get  out  of  the  citizens  of  Salem; 
yet  Mosby  was  amongst  them  at  that  moment. 
The  enemy,  dividing  their  force  there  into 
two  columns,  instituted  a  rigid  search  for  the 
"  guerilla."  One  column  moved  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Middleburg,  destroying  and  burning 
everything  in  their  route,  except  private  resi 
dences.  The  other  column  moved  through 
Rectortown  and  Piedmont,  and  camped  on  Joe 
Gibson's  farm,  two  miles  from  Paris,  that 
night.  Generals  Custar  and  Torbert  establish 
ing  their  headquarters  in  the  mill,  the  roads 
and  lanes  were  barricaded,  to  keep  us  from 
disturbing  them, 

Lieutenants  Beattie  and  John  Russell,  with 
some  few  men,  annoyed  the  enemy  all  night. 


322  MOSSY  AND  EIS  MEN. 

Sky-rockets  were  thrown  into  their  camp,  and 
the  cattle  and  stock  they  had  stolen  from  the 
citizens  along  their  route  were  frightened  and 
stampeded.  Their  camp  being  between  two 
mountains,  and  our  men  being  on  the  sides, 
they  amused  themselves  by  throwing  hand- 
grenades  in  amongst  them,  rolling  large  rocks 
down  on  them,  and  firing  into  them.  Their 
situation,  and  the  sleep  they  had  that  night, 
can  be  better  imagined  by  my  readers  than  I 
relate  to  them.  The  enemy  visited  Jim  Lew 
Adams,  and  charged  him  with  having  boarded 
and  given  aid,  comfort,  and  sympathy  to  our 
men.  According  to  Judge  Lynch  (under 
whose  code  they  decided  such  cases),  accusa 
tion  and  conviction  being  synonymous  terms, 
they  destroyed  every  article  upon  which  his 
family  might  subsist,  including  bedding,  cloth 
ing,  corn,  and  poultry,  carrying  off  such  arti 
cles  as  suited  their  fancy.  They  likewise 
made  a  call  upon  Mr.  William  Hopper,  near 
the  Gap.  Mrs.  Hopper  had  anticipated  the 
object  of  their  mission,  and  secreted  the  con 
tents  of  the  smoke-house  under  the  wood-pile. 
Just  as  her  undertaking  was  completed,  the 
squad  came  into  the  yard  and  ordered  refresh 
ments,  which  were  not  furnished  according  to 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  323 

a  regular  bill  of  fare,  when  they  broke  into 
the  smoke-house  and  feloniously  captured  two 
rolls  of  sausage.  At  Mrs.  Margaret  Ed 
monds's,  they  discovered  some  good  bacon  in 
the  garret,  which  was  hastily  confiscated. 
The  sanctity  of  her  private  chamber  was 
broken,  and  the  men  acted  without  restraint. 
From  thence  they  crossed  the  mountains  at 
Ashby's  Gap,  in  the  direction  of  Winchester. 
In  the  Gap,  there  lived  at  the  house  of  Peter 
Marshall,  a  faithful  old  black  woman,  who, 
for  the  love  she  bore  her  true  friends,  had 
received  and  given  shelter  to  our  pickets  on 
divers  occasions.  By  some  means  not  known 
to  the  writer,  the  Yankees  had  learned  of  this 
old  woman's  fidelity,  and  forthwith  she  was 
robbed  of  all  her  food  and  little  "  traps." 

Captain  Eichards  and  Bob  Walker,  with 
fifteen  Virginia  boys,  followed  close  in  the 
wake  of  these  plunderers  as  they  crossed  the 
river,  and  even  to  the  vicinity  of  Millwood, 
from  whence  our  men  retraced  their  steps, 
encountering  a  dense  fog,  under  cover  of 
which  the  remaining  division  of  the  Yankee 
forces  came  upon  our  men  unawares.  Our 
men  were  very  "impressionable"  at  this  junc 
ture  of  affairs,  and  effected  their  escape  with 


324  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

some  rapidity  and  considerable  eclat,  by  tak 
ing  to  the  mountains. 

It  was  on  the  day  of  these  occurrences  that 
several  promotions  were  made  in  the  com 
mand,  for  gallant  services,  and  meritorious 
conduct,  Mosby  receiving  a  Colonel's  commis 
sion,  Captain  William  H.  Chapman,  that  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Captain  A.  E.  Kich- 
ards,  that  of  Major. 

December  29th,  was  the  day  on  which 
another  search  was  inaugurated  for  Mosby. 
Some  three  hundred  men  of  the  Eighth  Illi 
nois  Cavalry  came  from  Fairfax,  and  worked 
with  great  industry  in  their  hunt.  Mosby  was 
hard  by,  and  on  two  occasions  was  completely 
in  their  power,  if  they  had  known  it.  Some  of 
the  prisoners  captured  were  at  a  loss  to  account 
for  Mosby 's  ubiquitous  character,  charged  our 
men  with  making  underground  railroads,  and 
acting  a  la  Mosby  above  ground,  while  the 
original  Mosby  escaped  through  some  sub 
terranean  passage. 

The  last  forty-eight  hours  of  the  old  year 
brought  us  violent  snow-storms,  gloomy  and 
freezing-cold  rains,  hail  and  sleet,  and  conse 
quently  not  much  activity  was  displayed. 

The  Second  Squadron,  consisting  of  Com- 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  325 

panics  C,  E,  F,  and  G,  met  at  Salem  on  the 
3d  day  of  January,  1864,  and  made  prepara 
tions  to  take  up  winter  quarters  on  the  North 
ern  Neck,  comprising  the  Counties  of  King 
George,  Westmoreland,  Northumberland,  Lan 
caster,  and  Richmond,  lying  between  the  Rap- 
pahannock  and  Potomac  rivers,  a  section 
of  country  not  having  been  occupied  or  visited 
by  the  forces  of  either  side,  and  one  of  the 
richest  portions  of  the  Old  Dominion.  Forage 
and  commissary  stores  existed  in  abundance, 
and  food  was  a  desideratum,  as  the  Yankees 
had  swept  the  country  around  the  Neck,  with 
a  sort  of  patent  broom,  which  deprived  men 
and  non-combatants  alike,  of  the  necessaries 
of  life.  Our  preparations,  however,  were 
completed,  when  it  was  whispered  that  the 
Graces  desired  to  honor  us  with  an  entertain 
ment,  and  friendly  reception.  A  dejeuner  was 
prepared  under  the  auspices  of  the  beautiful 
Virginia  girls,  Misses  Cochrane,  Murray, 
Welch,  and  their  lovely  associates,  which  did 
honor  to  the  donors  and  the  occasion.  We 
were  served  with  dressed  turkey,  roast  pork, 
beef  a  la  mode,  cake,  hot  coffee,  etc.  Not 
withstanding  these  savory  viands  met  a  cordial 
welcome  with  the  physical  man,  the  nobler 


326  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

impulses  of  our  soul  were  gently  touched  with 
admiration  and  emotions  akin  to  love  for  the 
accomplishments  and  unostentatious  hospital 
ity  of  our  fair  friends.  It  was,  moreover,  a 
feast  of  reason,  beauty,  grace,  and  refinement, 
ai\i  an  interchange  of  wishes,  hopes,  and 
prayers  for  the  success  of  our  sacred  cause. 
During  the  teie  a  tete,  and  amidst  the  fugue 
of  voices  which  rung  in  every  tone,  semi-tone 
and  key,  falling  in  sweet  cadence,  and  en 
riched  ever  and  anon  by  bursts  of  sparkling 
wit  and  pathos,  one  of  our  boys  brought 
the  house  to  breathless  silence.  In  a  sten 
torian  voice  the  question  was  asked :  "  Why 
are  Virginians  engaged  in  war  ? "  Imme 
diately  Miss arose,  and  extemporaneously 

alluded  to  the  cause  of  the  war  with  a  modest 
diction  which  nerved  every  fibre  of  our  souls 
with  the  sentiment,  that, 

"  Thrice  is  he  armed  who  hath  his  quarrel  just." 

She  said  in  substance : 

"  Soldiers  !  Liberty  is  your  watchword. 
Causes  which  are  not  ephemeral  have  led  you 
to  seek  the  establishment  of  an  independent 
Government,  organized  with  such  powers  as 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  327 

may  be  derived  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
^erned.  You  have  never  denied  to  others  the 
rich  boon  you  seek.  Aggression,  and  open 
declarations,  and  overt  acts  of  hostility  to 
our  wronged  and  injured  people,  have  im 
pelled  you  to  defend  your  altars  and  homes. 
Our  enemies  know  the  honesty  and  justice 
of  the  struggle,  but  systematically  falsify 
history.  Recur,  if  you  please,  to  the  pub 
lished  crusade  contained  in  the  infamous 
Helper  Book,  the  teaching  of  the  Stowes, 
Beechers,  Dickinsons,  Phiilipses,  Greeleys, 
and  abolition  conclaves,  the  Nat  Turner  In 
surrections,  John  Brown  raid,  Kansas  Border 
wars,  Lincoln's  dictum  that  the  Government 
cannot  endure  permanently,  half  slave  and 
half  free,  —  the  organization  of  Manufac 
turers'  Leagues  in  the  North,  forcing  us  to 
pay  tribute  by  exorbitant  tariffs,  accompanied 
by  their  "  Wide  Awake"  mobs  and  Personal 
Liberty -Free-Negro-Bills,  the  declaration  of  an 
Irrepressible  Conflict,  the  dogma  of  Federal 
consolidation  and  infringement  of  reserved, 
vested  rights.  These  are  some  of  the  causes 
which  inspire  and  move  you.  The  instinct 
which  drives  the  worm  to  turn  under  the 
tread,  is  engrafted  in  your  natures ;  hence  you 


328  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

resist  coercion  and  subjugation  by  the  natural 
laws  of  self-defence.  Nay,  you  fight  to  per 
petuate  and  hand  down  to  posterity,  the 
patriotic  principles  enunciated  by  our  Wash 
ington,  Jefferson,  Monroe,  Madison,  Marshall 
and  Henry." 

Company  D  travelled  from  Hooper's  shop, 
on  the  turnpike  near  Middleburg,  to  the 
vicinity  of  Fairfax,  touching  at  Centreville, 
thence  to  Gainesville.  Night,  darkness  and 
foul  weather  were  wholly  disregarded.  The 
command,  being  in  charge  of  Major  Richards, 
were  occasionally  divided  into  squads,  one  of 
which,  led  by  Captain  Glasscock,  attacked  a 
train  on  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad, 
near  Alexandria,  without  material  success, 
more  than  to  remind  our  enemies  that  we  had 
not  "  froze  out." 

Major  Richards  resolved  to  strike  a  blow 
which  should  be  felt  by  the  sentimental,  infal 
lible  gentry,  and  accordingly  ordered  eighty 
men  to  concentrate  at  Bloomfield.  From 
hence  they  hastened  across  the  mountains, 
via  Snicker's  Gap,  fording  the  river  at  Castle- 
man's  Ferry,  passing  through  Cabletown  and 
Charlestown,  and  called  a  halt  at  Duffield 
Station,  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad. 


MOSSY  AND  ffIS  MEN.  329 

Simultaneous  with  their  arrival,  a  richly  laden 
freight  train  hove  in  sight.  Upon  an  ex 
change  of  cards,  the  train  was  confiscated. 
A  vote  of  thanks  was  extended  to  the  provi 
dent  Yankee  Quartermaster,  for  our  supplies 
of  coffee,  sugar,  clothing,  crackers,  fish,  &c. 
Indeed,  the  success  inspired  the  men  with 
delight  to  such  a  degree  that  the  visit  was 
prolonged  for  several  hours,  trusting  that  the 
express  train  would  run  into  their  tender 
embrace.  An  alarm  was  sounded,  but  before 
the  command  had  fully  retired,  the  Express 
train  came  thundering  forward,  like  a  shooting 
star,  and  was  suddenly  brought  to  a  complete 
smash-up  by  the  debris  of  the  freight  train. 
This  was  a  casualty  of  war,  and  the  curses 
heaped  upon  Mosby  were  neither  select  nor 
elegant.  The  Union-savers  soon  repaired  the 
damage  and  arrested  sundry  non-combatants, 
to  surfeit  their  revenge. 

28* 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 


EXPLOIT  OF  MAJOR  RICHARDS  —  RUMORS  OF  PEACE  NEGOTIATIONS  — 
DEEP  SNOW  — FOX-HUNTING  — MAJOR  GIBSON  AND  LIEUTENANT 
BAKER  AFTER  US— SOME  OF  THEM  RETURN  — NOBLE  CONDUCT  OK 
LIEUTENANT  BAKER. 


THE  dawn  of  the  morning  of  February  1, 
1865,  was  heralded  by  still  another  ex 
ploit  of  Major  Richards  with  twenty-five  men. 
They  made  another  crossing  at  Castleman's, 
and  captured  five  patrolmen,  from  whom,  by 
the  exercise  of  strength,  awkwardness,  and  a 
mixture  of  deception,  they  succeded  in  obtain 
ing  the  countersign,  and  thus  armed  were 
enabled  to  effect  the  loan  of  five  noble  charg 
ers  from  the  Yankee  garrison  at  Charlestown. 
The  conditions  of  the  loan  not  being  fully 
understood,  several  leaden  messengers  sung 
around  their  ears  as  they  made  their  exit. 
The  riders  of  the  captured  horses  were  in 
duced  to  remain  in  the  saddle  until  we  could 
furnish  them  quarters.  Upon  the  return  of 
Major  Richards,  he  was  advised  that  Jim 

(330) 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  331 

Wilcher  and  Bob  Eastham,  (alias  Bob  Ridley), 
with  ten  men,  had  attacked  a  train  between 
Harper's  Ferry  and  Winchester,  without  suc 
cess.  The  engineer,  however,  fell  from  the 
train  in  his  frenzied  efforts  to  save  his  charge, 
and  was  instantly  killed. 

About  this  time  rumors  were  in  circulation 
of  peace  negotiations,  and  a  conference  to 
that  end  was  said  to  be  on  the  tapis  at  Fort 
ress  Monroe,  between  Vice  President  Stephens, 
Hon.  Mr.  Hunter,  and  Campbell,  and  Messrs. 
Lincoln  and  Seward.  The  news  was  brought 
by  Bush  Underwood,  who  had  been  scouting 
in  Fairfax  with  four  men.  The  intelligence 
cast  a  gloom  not  only  over  the  officers  and 
men,  but  over  the  whole  of  Mosby's  "  Con 
federacy  ;  "  and,  although  the  farmers  and 
soldiers  were  living  on  half  allowance,  gold 
at  one  hundred,  and  the  citizens  refusing  to 
take  Confederate  money,  we  did  not  relax  our 
efforts  in  the  least  degree.  The  officers  and 
men  unanimously  resolved  that  if  the  Confed 
eracy  went  down,  the  present  generation  and 
those  that  came  after  them  should  not  say  we 
did  not  discharge  our  duty.  The  men  began 
to  accumulate  forage  for  their  horses  for  the 
approaching  campaign.  They  commenced 


332  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

collecting  the  tithe  in  Fauquier,  but  that  was 
discontinued,  by  order  of  Colonel  Mosby,  in 
consequence  of  the  heavy  tax  which  the 
people  had  already  paid,  in  boarding  his 
men. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  Major  Richards 
started  with  five  men  on  a  scouting  expedition 
to  Fairfax ;  but  was  obliged,  before  he  got 
half  way,  to  return,  in  consequence  of  a 
violent  snow-storm  which  set  in.  The  snow 
fell  to  the  depth  of  two  feet,  and  in  many 
places  where  it  drifted,  it  was  one  hundred 
feet.  Roads  were  blockaded  with  it,  and  the 
stock  in  the  mountains  .died  for  the  want  of 
grazing.  While  this  condition  of  the  roads 
lasted,  the  men  amused  themselves  with  the 
exciting  sport  of  fox-chasing.  Day  and  night 
could  be  heard  the  barking  of  dogs  and  the 
music  of  the  horn  reverberating  in  the  moun 
tains.  A  grand  chase  was  proposed  by  some 
of  the  old  hunters,  and  it  came  off  on  the  8th 
of  February.  The  snow  was  about  eighteen 
inches  deep.  Hunters  came  from  the  adjoin 
ing  counties  with  their  dogs.  The  foxes  had 
become  very  annoying  to  the  farmers  in  this 
portion  of  Fauquier,  and  as  all  kinds  of  busi 
ness  and  work  were  suspended,  it  was  thought 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  333 

an  excellent  time  to  terminate  the  career  of 
some  of  them.  The  old  hunters,  Wm.  Hopper, 
Reuben  Triplett,  Bob  and  Phil  Eastham,  Hand, 
and  John  Carr  had  the  management  of  it. 
One  hundred  citizens  and  soldiers  partici 
pated  in  the  chase.  There  were  one  hun 
dred  hounds,  and  the  reverberations  of  their 
barking  through  the  mountains,  combined 
with  the  sight  of  a  hundred  men  engaged  in 
the  chase,  was  a  thing  long  to  be  remembered 
by  the  people  of  Fauquier.  In  dashing  over 
the  ravines  men  would  sometimes  be  pre 
cipitated  into  the  banks  of  snow,  but  soon 
recovered  themselves  The  chase  commenced 
at  ten  o'clock  A.M.,  and  terminated  at  sunset. 
Five  foxes  were  caught,  and  a  large  number 
chased  to  their  caves. 

On  the  18th  of  February,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  of  the  Fourteenth  Pennsylvania 
Cavalry,  commanded  by  Major  Gibson  and 
Lieutenant  Baker,  of  General  Merritt's  staff, 
crossed  the  Shenandoah  River  at  Shepherd's 
Mill,  nine  miles  from  Paris,  at  eleven  o'clock 
P.M.,  and  made  a  night  raid  into  our  Confed 
eracy,  confident  that  we  had  abandoned  our 
huts  and  holes  in  the  mountains  during  this 
severe  weather,  and  were  sleeping  in  the 


334  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

farmers'  houses  again.  The  weather  was,  and 
had  been  for  some  time,  intensely  cold.  Snow 
was  deep  on  the  ground,  and  they  were  sure 
of  making  "  a  good  thing  of  it."  After  cross 
ing  at  Shepherd's  Mill,  they  took  the  road 
under  the  mountains  and  struck  the  turnpike 
at  Mount  Carmel  Church.  Here  they  were 
joined  by  another  party  of  two  hundred,  who 
had  crossed  at  Berry's  Ferry.  Passing  through 
the  Gap,  they  reached  Paris  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain.  Here  they  separated.  The  party 
of  two  hundred,  which  crossed  at  Berry's 
Ferry,  were  to  proceed  down  the  turnpike  to 
Upper ville,  and  capture  Major  Richards  at 
his  father's,  two  miles  beyond,  at  Green 
Garden  Mills  ;  thence  to  llectortown  and 
Piedmont,  where  they  were  to  meet  the  other 
party,  after  searching  every  house  in  their 
route.  The  other  party,  Major  Gibson's,  was 
to  take  the  mountain  road  to  Markham,  and 
from  there  proceed  to  Piedmont. 

The  first  party,  after  searching  every  house 
on  the  turnpike,  entered  Upperville.  There 
they  found  a  Government  agent,  with  five 
barrels  of  apple  -  brandy,  which  he  had 
brought  up  to  Fauquier  to  trade  with  the 
farmers  for  hospital  supplies.  This  was  con- 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  335 

fiscated.  The  heads  of  the  barrels  were 
knocked  out,  and  all  hands  got  drunk.  By 
the  time  they  reached  Major  Richards,  they 
were  too  drunk  to  effect  anything.  They, 
however,  surrounded  the  house.  A"  party 
knocked  at  the  front  door,  and  were  admitted 
by  the  Major's  father.  Taking  him  at  first 
for  the  Major,  they  subjected  him  to  a  little 
rough  treatment,  until,  by  showing  them  his 
locks,  frosted  by  many  winters,  he  induced 
them  to  release  him.  The  Major,  who  heard 
them  before  they  entered  the  house,  secreted 
himself  in  a  place  in  the  wall,  which  he  had 
specially  prepared  for  this  exigency.  The 
house  and  premises  were  searched  diligently ; 
but  the  object  of  their  visit  was  not  to  be 
found.  However,  they  appropriated  to  them 
selves  every  stitch  of  clothing  he  had  in  the 
world,  including  a  magnificent  dress  uniform 
and  overcoat,  which  he  had  received  but  a 
few  days  before  from  Baltimore.  Being  too 
drunk  to  proceed  any  further,  this  party  re 
turned  to  the  Valley  before  day. 

Major  Gibson  performed  his  part  like  a 
soldier,  searching  every  house  diligently  on 
his  route,  except  Mr.  Hopper's  and  Mr.  Hart- 
man's  at  the  foot  of  the  Gap.  How  they 


336  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

overlooked  them  I  am  unable  to  comprehend. 
Had  they  given  Mr.  Hopper  a  call,  five  would 
have  been  caught  sleeping  in  a  feather  bed, 
including  the  writer.  Soldiers,  however,  you 
know,  are  inclined  to  be  superstitious.  They 
remembered  the  last  18th  of  February,  and 
that  their  friends  were  languishing  in  North 
ern  prisons  from  the  treachery  of  one  of  their 
own  countrymen.  Some  of  the  old  members 
had  become  careless,  and  returned  to  their 
feather-beds.  Those  that  returned,  and  new 
ones,  were  all  captured.  While  at  Mrs.  Betsy 
Edmonds',  Clem  Edmonds,  George  Triplett, 
and  Sam  Alexander,  heard  them  from  their 
ranch  in  the  mountains,  about  half  a  mile  in 
rear  of  the  house.  Saddling  their  horses, 
and  convincing  themselves  who  they  were, 
they  started  out  and  gave  the  alarm.  Pro 
ceeding  ahead  to  Lieutenant  Wren's,  who  was 
staying  at  Mr.  Brown's,  about  one  mile  dis 
tant,  they  were  joined  by  him  and  a  few 
others,  and  followed  the  enemy  up  to  Pied 
mont.  Reaching  this  place  at  daylight, 
Gibson  expected  to  find  the  other  column. 
Not  hearing  anything  from  them  at  sunrise, 
he  started  back  to  the  Valley,  taking  the  turn 
pike  to  Uppervillc,  and  thence  up  to  Paris, 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  337 

Lieutenant  Wren  following  him,  but  not 
doing  anything  except  keeping  them  closed 
up.  Every  chicken  and  turkey-roost  in  their 
route  had  been  robbed  by  them,  and  each 
man  had  his  turkey  or  old  hen  strapped 
behind  his  saddle,  together  with  the  clothing, 
&c.,  which  they  had  taken  from  the  citizens. 
At  Mr.  Chapplier's,  two  miles  from  Piedmont, 
on  the  turnpike  to  Upperville,  J.  Wright 
James,  our  Quartermaster,  was  captured.  By 
this  time  their  presence  in  our  midst  became 
generally  known  amongst  our  men  ;  who  dis 
playing  themselves  on  the  hills  and  mountains, 
the  enemy  became  alarmed,  and  pushed  on 
rapidly  from  Mr.  Chapplier's  to  Upperville. 
Not  finding  any  of  our  men  there  except 
Grafton  Carlisle,  they  pushed  on  rapidly  up 
the  turnpike,  and  reached  Paris  about  nine 
o'clock  A.M. 

Major  Richards,  in  the  meanwhile,  heard 
of  this  party,  and  having  no  clothes  of  his 
own,  he  put  on  a  suit  of  his  father's  brown 
jeans,  mounted  his  horse,  and  started  after 
them.  At  Upperville  he  met  with  Lieutenant 
Wren,  with  a  few  men.  Pushing  on  up  the 
turnpike,  at  Paris  he  was  joined  by  others, 
who  swelled  his  party  to  thirty-eight  men.  In 

29 


338  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

Paris  some  skirmishing  took  place  between 
the  enemy's  rear-guard  and  Richards.  The 
enemy  retreated  rapidly  though  the  Gap,  and 
formed  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain,  at 
Mount  Carmel  Church,  two  miles  from  Paris. 
The  pursuit  of  Richards  was  conducted 
without  any  order  whatever.  His  thirty-eight 
men  were  strung  out  for  one  quarter  of  a 
mile.  But  on  dashed  the  gallant  Richards. 
At  the  foot  of  Mt.  Carmel  he  ordered  the 
charge.  The  enemy,  seeing  with  what  reso 
lution  the  charge  was  made,  and  imagining 
five  thousand  guerillas  were  after  them,  broke 
and  retreated  by  the  road  they  came.  It  was 
a  narrow  defile  through  the  mountains,  just 
large  enough  for  one  ^vagon  to  pass.  Through 
this  defile  or  road  they  had  to  retreat  seven 
miles,  where  they  were  to  cross  the  Shenan- 
doah  River  by  a  dangerous  ford,  before  they 
could  entertain  any  idea  of  being  safe.  When 
they  broke  and  got  into  this  road,  Richards' 
men  closed  in  on  them,  and  the  slaughter  was 
terrible.  Along  this  road,  clean  down  to  the 
river,  were  strewn  the  dead,  wounded,  and 
prisoners.  It  was  indeed  a  sickening  sight. 
The  snow  this  entire  distance  was  crimson 
with  the  blood  of  the  dead  and  wounded. 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  339 

Every  man  of  ours  they  had  captured  (twen 
ty-five)  was  re-taken,  besides  one  hundred 
mules  and  horses  they  had  taken  from  the 
citizens  (which  were  returned  to  them  by 
Richards).  Ten  or  fifteen  were  killed,  eighty 
odd  were  captured  and  wounded,  and  brought 
to  Paris.  Major  Gibson  was  wounded,  cap 
tured,  brought  to  Paris,  and  paroled  with  nine 
other  badly  wounded  men. 

Amongst  the  prisoners  was  Lieutenant 
Baker,  of  General  Merrit's  staff.  When  he 
was  asked  how  he  happened  to  be  absent 
from  his  general,  he  stated  that  he  had  been 
on  one  or  two  of  the  night  "  excursions  "  in 
the  Valley,  had  found  them  quite  exciting 
and  pleasant,  and  as  his  friend,  Major 
Gibson,  was  going  on  this  one,  he  con 
cluded  he  would  accompany  him,  and  ren 
der  his  assistance  in  "  arresting"  us.  But 
he  counted  the  chickens  before  they  were 
hatched.  Their  raid  as  far  as  Upperville  was 
a  decided  success.  And  here  their  hopes 
failed  them.  They  knew  not  at  what  mo 
ment  they  would  be  attacked  by  a  set  of 
wolves.  Surrounded  by  these  circumstances, 
very  few  men  would  fight  with  an  enemy  they 
did  not  understand.  The  men  that  were  able 


340  MOSSY  AND  IHS  MEN. 

to  walk  were  sent  to  Richmond.  Lieutenant 
Baker  was  furnished  with  a  horse,  by  one  of 
the  men,  to  ride  to  Culpepper,  where  they 
took  the  cars  for  Richmond. 

Major  Richards,  in  this  affair,  had  one  man 
(John  Iden)  killed,  already 'a  wounded  soldier, 
and  one  (Dr.  Sowers,  of  Clark's  County,) 
wounded.  The  enemy  captured  John  Iden 
at  his  brother  Tom's,  and  took  a  watch,  a 
family  piece,  from  John.  As  they  were 
carrying  him  off  prisoner,  his  aged  mother, 
hearing  of  the  captors'  having  taken  the 
watch,  went  to  Lieutenant  Baker,  stated  her 
case,  and  he  promptly  had  it  returned  to  her. 
The  enemy,  rather  chagrined  at  the  conduct 
of  Baker,  after  they  got  him  away  from  the 
house,  on  the  public  highway,  robbed  him 
of  everything.  The  writer  was  detailed  by 
Major  Richards  to  take  charge  of  the  prison 
ers  and  guard.  In  due  course  of  time  we 
reached  Culpepper  Court  House,  on  the 
Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad.  From 
there  they  were  sent  by  rail  to  Gordonsville, 
and  were  that  night  turned  over  to  Major 
Boyle,  Provost  Marshal  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia. 

The  next  morning,  while  in  Major  Boyle's 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  341 

office,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  cars,  he 
handed  me  a  lock  of  hair,  which  he  said 
Baker  had  taken  from  one  of  the  prisoners, 
who  had  taken  it  from  the  young  man  that 
was  killed,  and  asked  that  it  might  be  re 
turned  to  his  mother.  Such  an  act  of  feeling 
was  so  uncommon  in  the  Yankee  army,  I 
have  deemed  it  worthy  of  notice  here. 
Feeling  a  curiosity  to  know  who  the  person 
was,  I  inquired  of  Major  Boyle,  who  told  me 
he  was  an  Englishman,  and  the  lieutenant  I 
brought  out. 

I  expressed  to  Major  Boyle  a  desire  to  visit 
Richmond,  and  he  placed  the  prisoners  in 
my  charge.  The  train  coming  up  in  a  few 
minutes,  after  a  short  stoppage  we  were  soon 
on  our  way  to  the  capital.  Reaching  Rich 
mond  at  seven  o'clock  P.M.,  we  marched  down 
Main  Street  to  the  Libby  Prison,  and  turned 
over  our  prisoners  to  Major  Turner. 

29* 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 


HIGH  PRICES  — FORAGING— SHERIDAN'S  MARCH  — MOSBY  PREVENTED 
FROM  FOLLOWING  BY  SWOLLEN  STREAMS— EXPLOITS  OF  CAPTAIN 
GLASSCOCK  AND  LIEUTENANT  THOMPSON  —  A  CHALLENGE  NOT 
ACCEPTED  — DESTRUCTION  OF  DISTILLERIES. 


AT  that  time,  in  Richmond,  it  was  melan 
choly  to  contemplate  the  condition  of 
affairs.  Hemmed  in  on  three  sides  by  the 
enemy,  their  supplies  cut  off,  and  only  one 
avenue  over  which  they  could  escape  or 
draw  supplies ;  and  that  portion,  the  Vir 
ginia  Central  Road  already  exhausted,  there 
seemed  to  be  nothing  in  prospect  but  starva 
tion.  Bacon  was  twelve  and  fifteen  dol 
lars  a  pound ;  flour  twelve  hundred  dollars 
a  barrel ;  sugar  fifteen  dollars  a  pound ; 
oysters  five  dollars  a  dozen ;  eggs  one  dollar 
apiece ;  corn  seventy-five  dollars  a  bushel  ; 
and  board  at  the  Spottswood,  fifty  dollars  a 
day.  Considering  these  prices  rather  extrav 
agant  for  a  private  soldier,  who  was  getting 

(842) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  343 

only  fifteen  dollars  a  month,  I  remained  in 
Richmond  only  two  days.  Taking  the  cars 
to  Gordonsville,  I  there  met  Colonel  Mosby, 
on  his  way  to  rejoin  his  command.  Mount 
ing  my  horse,  and  swimming  the  Rapidan, 
night  found  me  at  Jack's  shop.  At  daybreak 
the  next  morning  I  was  wending  my  way 
through  Madison  Court  House,  thence  through 
Washington,  Rappahannock  County,  and 
reached  Fauquier  the  day  after  the  Colonel. 
The  day  on  which  Colonel  Mosby  rejoined 
it,  the  command  was  ordered  to  proceed  imme 
diately  to  London  County,  to  collect  forage 
for  the  ensuing  campaign.  The  citizens  were 
very  kind  to  us,  especially  the  Quakers. 
Mr.  Elijah  Holmes,  the  head  of  their  church 
in  that  county,  entertained  eight  or  ten  of  us 
every  night  for  a  month,  without  charge. 
Mrs.  Hoge  and  her  accomplished  daughters 
(another  strong  Union  family)  likewise  con 
tributed  all  in  their  power  to  make  our  stay 
amongst  them  as  pleasant  as  possible.  In 
Waterford,  the  stronghold  of  Unionism, 
every  attention  imaginable  was  shown  us. 
In  Leesburg,  the  people,  especially  the  la 
dies,  rejoiced  to  see  their  Southern  friends 
once  more.  Private  entertainments  were 


344  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

given  to  us,  and  all  was  mirth  for  several 
days.  Our  men,  notwithstanding  these  at 
tentions,  were  collecting  their  tithes,  and 
sending  it  back  to  our  little  Confederacy, 
all  anticipating  a  prosperous  and  active  cam 
paign. 

Early  in  this  month  Sheridan  commenced 
his  march  up  the  Valley,  to  join  Grant,  then 
lying  around  Petersburg  and  Richmond.  The 
people  are  familiar  with  the  misery  and  woe 
he  brought  upon  the  people  along  the  line 
of  his  march.  Mosby  had  anticipated  this 
movement,  and  ordered  his  men  to  meet  him 
in  Markem.  The  elements,  however,  pre 
vailed  against  him.  The  spring  rains  had 
set  in,  and  the  water-courses  were  so  swollen 
as  to  prevent  their  passage.  Had  it  been 
otherwise,  many  of  Sheridan's  cavalry  would 
have  "  gone  up  "  on  their  march  from  Char- 
lottesville  to  Tyre  River,  on  the  Lynchburg 
Railroad.  Mosby,  learning  the  condition  of 
the  water-courses,  ordered  us  back  to  Lou- 
don. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  Mosby  ordered  fifty 
men  to  meet  him  at  Leesburg.  Twenty-five 
of  them  were  sent  to  Fairfax,  under  Captain 
Glasscock;  the  other  twenty-five,  under  Lieu- 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  345 

tenant  Ed  Thompson,  were  sent  to  Munson's 
Hill,  near  Washington  City.  Thompson  cap 
tured  a  patrol  of  ten  men  and  horses.  Captain 
Glasscock,  hearing  of  a  scouting  party  of  thirty 
of  the  Sixteenth  New  York  Cavalry  near  the 
Court  House,  prepared  to  engage  them,  and, 
if  possible,  capture  the  whole  party.  Learn 
ing  the  road  they  were  on,  he  divided  his  men, 
one  half  being  under  Lieutenant  Briscoe,  the 
others  under  himself.  Concealing  themselves 
in  the  woods  until  the  enemy  should  pass,  as 
soon  as  the  rear-guard  went  by  Briscoe,  he 
charged  them,  while  Glasscock  charged  them 
in  front.  The  enemy  fought  gallantly,  and  in 
their  efforts  to  cut  their  way  through  all  were 
killed  except  three,  who  escaped,  and  a  few 
who  surrendered.  Glasscock  brought  off 
eighteen  horses,  without  sustaining  any  loss. 

On  the  18th  of  this  month  (March),  Lieu 
tenant  Ed  Thompson  was  ordered  by  Mosby 
to  take  a  squad  of  men  and  visit  Occaquan. 
Selecting  fifteen  tried  men,  he  visited  that 
historic  ground,  and  captured  fifteen  cavalry 
men,  with  their  horses,  without  loss  on  his 
side. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  our  gallant  men 
were  advised  that  an  expedition  of  five  him- 


346  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

dred  Yankee  cavalry  and  one  thousand  infan 
try  had  been  dispatched  from  Harper's  Ferry, 
for  the  purpose  of  driving  us  from  our  native 
heath.  They  marched  out  to  Hillsboro,  with 
songs  of  mirth  and  self-admiration  ringing 
through  hill  and  dale.  The  ground  over 
which  they  marched  had  been  rendered  classic 
by  marches,  counter-marches,  skirmishes,  and 
repeated  engagements.  Many  noble  spirits 
had  already  been  buried  in  this  soil,  and  the 
little  mounds  here  and  there  were  but  so 
many  memorials  or  guide-posts,  reminding 
the  living  soldier  of  the  sacredness  of  his 
struggle  for  liberty. 

The  21st  of  March,  as  the  dawn  illumined 
the  eastern  horizon,  we  were  summoned  by 
our  gallant  leader  to  assemble  at  Hamilton. 
The  clarion  notes  of  the  bugle  rallied  one 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  as  noble  hearts  as 
ever  beat  in  the  bosom  of  man.  Hamilton 
was  the  point  at  which  the  Yankees  expected 
to  make  their  grand  coup  de  main.  The  South 
ern  boys  were  posted,  and  ordered  to  lie  in 
hugger-mugger  near  Quaker  Church,  whilst 
Captain  Glasscock,  with  a  scout  of  four  or 
five  picked  men,  should  ascertain  the  designs 
of  the  invaders.  The  Yankees  reached  Ham- 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  347 

ilton  about  noon,  and  moved  down  the  road 
toward  our  position  without  delay.  Colonel 
Mosby  arrived  on  the  field,  and  after  a  brief 
consultation  prepared  to  meet  the  invaders, 
and  to,  — 

"  Strike  for  the  green  graves  of  our  sires, 
God,  and  our  native  Land." 

Fifty  Yankees  were  sent  out  to  meet  us  as 
decoys ;  and  their  charge  upon  our  rear  and 
left  flank  struck  us  like  a  young  hurricane, 
and  then  rebounded.  Their  blow  was  not 
irresistible,  neither  were  our  men  immovable, 
but  their  retreat  was  as  sudden  and  precip 
itous  as  their  charge.  Mosby,  Glasscock,  and 
Bob  Eastham,  promptly  rallied  the  men,  and 
determined  to  return  the  compliment.  The 
retreat  was  closely  followed  up  until  within 
half  a  mile  of  Hamilton,  where  the  Yankees 
were  posted  in  full  force,  and  in  all  the  splen 
dor  and  pomp  of  martial  array.  There  was 
no  halting  or  hesitation,  and  our  men  went  in 
to  the  feast  set  before  them.  As  we  neared 
them,  an  exchange  of  volleys  took  place,  and 
before  our  sabres  could  reach  their  front  rank 
it  gave  way,  and  so  confused  those  in  the 
rear,  that  they  at  once  sought  safety  in  the 
houses  and  sheds  of  Hamilton. 


348  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

This  was  rather  to  our  wish,  as  we  were 
fully  equal  to  the  task  of  taking  any  single 
house.  Colonel  Mosby,  however,  called  the 
men  forth  and  formed  them  in  an  open  field 
near  the  town.  This  movement  was  mistaken 
for  a  retreat ;  but  Mosby,  after  the  men  were 
marshalled  into  line,  waved  his  hat  and 
shouted  for  the  Yankees  to  advance.  They 
came  from  their  hiding-places,  but  seemed 
unwilling  to  meet  us.  We  cannot  apologize 
for  their  hesitancy  in  accepting  the  challenge 
but  upon  the  conjecture  that  our  handful  of 
men  must  have  been  mistaken  for  the  advance 
guard  of  a  large  force.  A  spirited  exchange 
of  shots  was  kept  up  until  late  in  the  even 
ing,  when  the  Yankees  drew  off  and  passed 
through  Hamilton,  and  admitted  in  their  exit 
that  they  had  lost  fifty-two  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing.  Their  men  who  were  taken 
prisoners  acknowledged  a  defeat,  with  a  loss 
of  two  captains  killed.  Among  our  boys, 
James  Keith  and  Binford  were  killed  at  the 
head  of  the  column,  Captain  Manning,  John 
Chew,  and  Ben  Fletcher,  wounded.  Among 
those  complimented  by  Colonel  Mosby  for 
distinguished  prowess,  were  Corbin  and  John 
Hipkins,  the  Colonel  himself  having  one 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  349 

horse  killed  under  him  during  the  engage 
ment.  We  lost,  also,  two  of  our  men  captured, 
who,  no  doubt,  have  met  the  sad  fate  of  many 
others,  under  the  convenient  pretext  of  being 
guerillas. 

That  night  we  bivouacked  near  Hamilton, 
and  at  dawn  of  day  next  morning  discovered 
that  the  condition  of  the  roads  and  fair 
weather  had  induced  the  invaders  to  make  an 
advance  on  Snickersville,  Bloomfield,  and 
Middleburg.  Mosby  determined  to  follow, 
and  in  doing  so  resorted  to  a  series  of  strate- 
gems  and  devices  to  draw  the  enemy  into 
another  engagement.  Their  infantry,  how 
ever,  formed  and  marched  in  hollow  squares, 
with  the  cavalry  in  the  inclosure.  This  novel 
mode  of  protecting  gay  cavaliers  did  honor  to 
the  infantry,  but  the  cavalry  must  have  left 
their  "  </nY"  at  the  Ferry.  We  continued  the 
pursuit  below  Middleburg,  where  the  enemy 
were  reenforced  by  three  hundred  cavalry 
from  Fairfax,  which  made  their  force  too 
formidable  for  us  to  cope  with,  and  having 
one  man  wounded  during  the  day  (John 
Foster,  of  White  Plains),  Colonel  Mosby 
ordered  his  men  to  be  in  readiness  for  subse- 

30 


350  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

quent    emergencies,  and   to  retire    from    the 
vicinity  of  Middleburg. 

On  the   24th,  we   were  ordered  to  return 
to   London,  and  continue  to  collect  the  tithe, 
which  was  done  under  very  great  difficulties. 
A  great   many,  in  fact  most  of   the  farmers 
who    had    teams,  had    run    them   across   the 
Potomac  into   Maryland,  to  prevent  us  from 
taking  their  corn  and  bacon.     In  addition  to 
collecting  the  tithe,  squads  of  men  had  been 
detailed  to  destroy  all   the   distilleries  in  the 
county.     The  proprietors  of  these  institutions 
had  been  ordered  by  Mosby  to  stop   distilling 
the  grain  of  the  country  ;  but  no  attention  was 
paid  to  his   orders.     These  houses  had  been 
broken  up,  and  the  stills  cut  to  pieces  in  Fau- 
quier,  and  Mosby  was  determined  to  terminate 
their  traffic  in  London.     In  addition  to  the 
injury    the    operations    of    these   institutions 
would  have  on  his  men,  they  were  consuming 
the  very  life-blood  of  the  people.     The  prin 
cipal  one  in  London  County  was  Downey's, 
the  proprietor  of  which  was  President  of  the 
Virginia  Senate,  under  the  Pierpont  dynasty. 
He  had  fled  to  Maryland,  and  only  returned 
when  his  property  was  occupied  by  the  enemy. 
His  absence,  however,  did  not  interfere  in  the 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  351 

least  degree  with  the  distilling  of  grain.  It 
was  carried  on  as  successfully  by  his  wife  as 
if  he  had  been  present.  It  was  a  rendezvous 
for  the  enemy,  and  had  become  an  intolerable 
nuisance.  A  detachment  of  men  were  sent 
there  by  Mosby  ;  and  the  stills  were  cut  to 
pieces,  and  the  liquor  poured  into  the  creek. 
Mrs.  Downey  determined  to  have  her  revenge. 
She  had  secreted  in  her  house  a  squad  of  the 
enemy  ;  and  when  Captain  James,  our  Quar 
termaster,  Major  Hibbs,  and  John  Boiling 
went  to  Downey's  a  few  days  after  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  concern,  to  collect  the  tithe  of 
bacon,  they  were,  while  dismounted,  and  in 
the  house,  seized  by  the  enemy  and  carried 
prisoners  across  the  Potomac  River  to  Berlin, 
Maryland.  Throughout  Loudon  County  there 
was  a  general  rejoicing  when  this  nuisance 
was  abated,  and  deep  regret  expressed  at  the 
capture  of  their  benefactors. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 


NEWS  OF    THE    FALL  OF    RICHMOND  —  ORGANIZATION  OF  A  NEW  COM 
PANY—EXPLOIT  OF  CAPTAIN   BAYLOR. 


ON  the  31st  of  March,  Mosby  surprised  his 
men  in  Leesburg.  While  they  were 
enjoying  the  society  of  the  charming  ladies 
of  this  place,  he  dashed  in  and  ordered  all  of 
them  to  Carter's  Mill,  to  do  picket  duty. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  a  meeting  was  held  at 
the  Quaker  Church  but  nothing  was  done 
worthy  of  record. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  4th  of  April, 
heavy  firing  was  heard  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river  in  Maryland.  At  dark,  reports  said, 
"  It  is  in  honor  of  the  fall  of  Richmond." 
No  credit  was  attached  to  it  by  our  men. 
That  night  there  was  a  great  deal  of  specula 
tion  about  it.  The  reports  of  those  guns 
sounded  like  the  death-knell  to  all  our  hopes 
and  aspirations.  We  retired  that  night  to 

(352) 


.      MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  353 

awake  in  the  morning  and  find  it  a  fearful 
reality.  The  Baltimore  papers  received  that 
evening  revealed  the  fact  to  us.  The  intelli 
gence  produced  great  rejoicing  among  the 
loyal  men  of  Loudon.  Mosby  and  his  men, 
however,  did  not  despair,  or  give  up  the 
cause.  A  meeting  was  forthwith  called  (the 
5th  of  April),  at  North  Fork,  at  which  there 
was  a  full  attendance  of  the  men.  Mosby  was 
much  concerned  about  the  news.  In  conver 
sation  with  Sergeant  Corbin  and  myself,  he 
said,  "  There  is  nothing  else  for  me  to  do  but  to 
fyht  on"  The  men  declared  they  would 
stand  by  him.  A  new  Company  was  organ 
ized,  and  George  Baylor,  of  Charlestown, 
Virginia,  was  elected  Captain,  Ed.  Thompson 
First  Lieutenant,  Jim  Wilcher  Second  Lieu 
tenant,  and  Henry  Carter  Third  Lieutenant; 
all  elected  for  meritorious  conduct. 

Captain  Baylor  was  a  Lieutenant  in  the 
regular  army,  and  had  distinguished  himself 
on  many  a  battle-field,  although  a  mere  youth. 
By  his  daring  and  heroic  conduct  he  had  won 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  Lee,  Stuart,  and 
Hampton.  As  a  successful  scout  he  had  no 
superior  in  the  army,  and  on  all  important 
and  hazardous  expeditions,  Stuart  and  Hamp- 

30* 


354  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

ton  called  on  him  to  execute  them ;  and  he 
did  it  successfully.  His  fame  was  not  con 
fined  to  our  own  army,  but  extended  to  that 
of  the  enemy.  The  foe  in  the  Valley  dreaded 
him  as  much  as  they  did  our  own  Chieftain, 
Mosby.  Mosby  had  been  for  a  long  time 
anxious  to  have  Baylor  attached  to  his  com 
mand.  There  was  no  way  he  could  be  had 
without  promoting  him  to  a  Captaincy.  He 
was  already  a  First  Lieutenant  in  the  regular 
army,  and  if  he  resigned  was  liable  to  con 
scription.  So  this  company  was  organized 
especially  for  him ;  and  how  worthy  did  he 
prove  himself  to  lead  brave  men  into  battle ! 
His  first  foray  on  the  enemy  will  attest  that. 
After  the  election  of  officers  and  appoint 
ment  of  non-commissioned  officers,  Mosby  told 
Baylor  to  go  out  and  see  what  he  could  do. 
Baylor  ordered  his  men  (fifty),  "  to  fall  in," 
and  moved  off,  with  the  best  wishes  of  Mosby 
and  the  other  men.  The  command  was  then 
ordered  'to  return  to  Fauquier,  and  await 
further  orders.  Baylor  passed  through  Snick 
er's  Gap,  thence  down  the  Shenandoah  River 
to  Rock  Ford,  when  he  swam  the  river, 
under  cover  of  night,  pushed  on  down  the 
Valley,  and  stormed  Bolivar  Heights  at  liar- 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 


355 


per's  Ferry  before  day,  capturing  seventy-seven 
horses  and  forty-seven  prisoners,  belonging  to 
Keyes'  Loudon  Cavalry,  without  a  man  of  his 
receiving  an  injury.  Captain  Baylor,  in  this 
affair,  annihilated  Keyes,  leaving  him  not  a 
man  or  a  horse ;  and  had  Keyes  been  there, 
he  would  have  gone  up  too. 


CHAPTER    XL. 


GLOOM  PRODUCED  BY  THE  FALL  OF  RICHMOND  — MOSBY  CONTINUES 
IN  THE  FIELD  — BAYLOR'S  UNWILLING  RETUEAT  —  ATTEMPT  TO 
CAPTURE  SCHOONERS  —  MOSBY  INVITED  TO  SURRENDER  —  SOL 
DIERLY  CONDUCT  OF  FEDERAL  OFFICERS. 


IT  may  prove  interesting  to  the  searcher 
after  truth,  to  speak  somewhat  more  in 
detail  of  our  operations  subsequent  to  the 
fall  of  Richmond.  Gloom  and  despondency 
seemed  to  hang  over  the  spirits  of  the  people 
like  a  pall,  notwithstanding  the  stout  heart 
of  our  brave  leader  indulged  the  last  ray  of 
hope  that  we  might  yet  be  free,  —  that  some 
stone  would  be  cut  from  the  mountain  that 
could  roll  and  carve  the  road  to  liberty. 
Mosby  was  not  a  guerilla ;  the  tongue  of 
calumny  -had  made  him  such.  He  fought  for 
liberty  and  independence,  and  conducted  his 
campaigns  not  after  the  fashion  of  Don  An 
tonio  Espozy  Mina,  but  as  a  brave,  humane 
and  Christian  soldier. 

(35G) 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  357 

On  the  8th  of  April,  the  command  made  a 
rendezvous  at  Upperville.  Mosby  ordered 
Companies  D  and  H  to  operate  near  Fair 
fax,  and  with  Companies  A  and  B  repaired  to 
the  Valley,  crossing  the  Blue  llidge  at  Ash- 
by 's  Gap,  and  Shenandoah  Hiver  at  Ab.  Fer 
guson's.  After  swimming  the  river,  a  halt  was 
ordered  near  Ferguson's.  Mosby  took  John 
Munson,  Hifflebower,  and  Ed.  Hurst,  and 
dashed  forth  on  a  scouting  expedition  during 
the  night  and  following  day.  In  fact,  the 
men  went  to  work  as  though  our  star  of 
destiny  was  unobscured  by  the  clouds  of  ad 
versity.  John  Russell,  with  seven  men,  cap 
tured  and  scattered  the  picket  at  Berry ville, 
consisting  of  eight  men  with  horses.  Three 
of  the  men  were  killed,  and  three  captured, 
two  escaping,  and  of  the  horses  seven  were 
taken. 

The  next  day,  the  9th,  Lieutenant  Ab. 
Wrenn,took  the  detachment  up  the  river,  and 
bivouacked  at  Bethel  Church,  returning  the 
following  day  to 'Ferguson's. 

Mosby  having  returned,  brought  tidings 
of  the  capture  of  General  Ewell,  Custis,  Lee, 
and  others  at  Amelia  Court  House;  but  there 
remained  yet  a  short  time  in  which  we  could 


358  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

strike  ;  and  forthwith  each  detachment  and 
squad  lost  no  time.  Twenty  men,  under  Lieu 
tenant  Frank  Turner,  and  twenty  under 
Lieutenant  Wrenn,  were  assigned  to  the 
Turnpike,  between  Berry ville  and  Charles- 
town.  Ed.  Hurst  went  to  Bunker  Hill  with 
ten  men,  while  Mosby  took  Company  A  to 
Winchester,  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  a 
supply  train  from  the  enemy  ;  but  ascertain 
ing  that  if  he  captured  it  (of  which  he 
seemed  to  entertain  no  doubt),  it  would  be 
necessary  to  burn  or  destroy  it,  and  thus  lose 
the  provender,  &c.,  he  declined  to  take  it. 
Hurst  and  Turner  returned  without  tangible 
results.  Lieutenant  Wrenn,  however,  under 
the  auspices  of  an  inferior  guide,  was  carried 
into  the  meshes  of  the  enemy's  camp.  Speed 
was  then  the  essential  atribute  of  a  good 
soldier,  and  was  called  into  requisition  ;  for 
we  fled  with  inconceivable  rapidity.  We  did 
not  debate  the  order  of  our  flight,  but  went  at 
once,  and  plunged  across  the  old  Shenandoah 
at  llobinson's.  Once  safe  across,  we  turned 
to  behold  the  Yankees  on  the  opposite  side 
indulging  in  frantic  demonstrations  at  our 
escape. 

In  this  connection  we  must  not  neglect  to 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  359 

mention  the  exploits  of  the  brave  Baylor,  in 
Fairfax  County,  and  his  portion  of  our  com 
mand,  who  were  busy  (not  as  Beast  Butler 
was  at  New  Orleans),  but  whilst  searching  for 
armed  enemies,  were  surprised  and  attacked 
in  the  rear  by  a  large  force  of  the  Eighth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  under  Captain  Gibson.  At 
the  first  fire  Baylor's  charger,  which  was  a 
wild,  unbroken  animal,  became  wholly  un 
manageable,  and  went  plunging  into  the 
woods  and  across  ravines  as  though  ten  thou- 

O 

sand  demons  from  the  lowest  realms  of  perdi 
tion  were  in  pursuit.  In  the  skirmish  Baylor 
lost  two  men  killed  and  five  or  six  captured, 
including  Lieutenant  Harney,  whose  loss  was 
irretrievable. 

The  Second  Squadron  had  been  operating 
industriously  on  Northern  Neck,  under  Cap 
tain  Thomas  Richards  and  Colonel  Chapman; 
and  whilst  there,  Richards  embarked  with 
several  men  in  a  frail  scow,  and  attempted  the 
capture  of  two  schooners  in  the  Bay.  They 
were  fired  upon  by  a  Yankee  gunboat,  and 
so  closely  pursued  that  the  men  were  forced, 
as  a  dernier  resort,  to  jump  into  the  water  and 
swim  for  dear  life,  until  they  reached  the 
shore.  It  is  needless  to  remark  that  our  man- 
of-war  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 


360  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

After  gaining  terra  firma,  the  remainder 
of  the  detachment  were  collected  together 
under  Colonel  Chapman,  and  during  his 
efforts  to  procure  arms  for  those  who  had 
been  unfortunate  in  the  Naval  Expedition, 
word  came  that  a  detachment  of  Infantry, 
Artillery,  and  unbleached  Yankee  Cavalry, 
had  been  dispatched  from  Washington,  with 
orders  to  show  no  quarter,  but  drive  us  into 
the  Bay.  Colonel  Chapman  resolved  to  fight 
it  out,  and  as  the  shades  of  night  approached 
made  a  charge  upon  them.  In  the  melee  Cap 
tain  Samuel  Chapman  was  severely  wounded. 
The  roads  being  in  excellent  travelling  condi 
tion,  the  Yankees  returned  to  Washington 
early  next  morning,  and  reported  many  daring 
adventures,  Colonel  Chapman's  men  then 
returned  to  Fauquier,  not  to  engage  in  the 
approaching  campaign,  but  to  surrender,  and 
lay  down  their  arms. 

On  the  13th,  a  national  salute  was  heard  at 
Winchester,  in  honor  of  the  Yankee  successes 
and  the  downfall  of  our  cause.  As  the  sound 
of  each  discharge  echoed  and  reverberated 
through  the  hills,  it  fell  like  the  knell  of  de 
parted  glory  upon  the  hearts  of  our  people. 

On  the  14th,  General  Hancock  dispatched  a 


ALFRED  GLASOOCK. 


MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN.  361 

courier  to  Mosby,  inviting  his  surrender  with 
comrades-in-arms,  representing  that  General 
Lee,  under  whose  command  he  was  acting, 
had  surrendered  his  whole  army,  and  that 
surrender  included  Mosby  and  his  command, 
giving  a  pledge,  moreover,  that  his  men  should 
be  paroled,  and  allowed  to  retain  their  side 
arms  and  horses,  that  were  the  private  prop 
erty  of  the  men,  but  that  Mosby  himself 
would  not  be  included  in  these  terms.  Mosby 
did  not  reply.  A  second  courier  came,  offer 
ing  and  pledging  to  Mosby  equal  and  fair 
terms  with  the  balance  of  the  army.  Colonel 
Mosby  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  studied  and 
wanton  vituperation  of  a  mercenary  press, 
and  the  malice  and  hatred  cherished  against 
him  by  the  devotees  of  a  senseless  and  degrad 
ing  calumny.  He  concluded  to  delay  an 
answer  until  he  could  communicate  with  his 
Government. 

Alas !  man's  whole  life  is  a  tragedy,  and 
here  is  the  afterpiece.  The  last  act  in  our 
drama  had  been  played  ;  the  curtain  was  fall 
ing  ;  we  had  no  Government.  Coercion  was 
indeed  a  success,  and  whatever  else  might  be 
our  status,  we  were  now  conquered.  The 
Government  of  our  choice,  which  had  flour- 
si 


362  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

ished  like  a  young  giant,  had  been  suffocated 
and  crushed. 

General  Hancock's  solicitude  for  the  fate 
of  our  command  was  further  developed  by  a 
proposition  that  an  officer  of  equal  rank  with 
Mosby  would  be  sent  with  orders  to  parole 
him,  and  Millwood  designated  as  the  point  to 
consummate  the  business.  Colonel  Mosby 
lacked  confidence,  and  postponed  the  matter. 
Colonel  Chapman,  Captain  Thomas  Kichards, 
Adjutant  William  Mosby  (brother  to  the 
Colonel),  Lieutenant  John  Russell,  and  Sur 
geon  Montero,  visited,  by  special  leave  the 
headquarters  of  General  Hancock,  at  Win 
chester.  Each  of  these  gentlemen  will  in 
after  life  recur  to  their  kind  reception  and 
hospitable  entertainment  at  the  hands  of  Gen 
eral  Hancock  and  his  staff,  with  the  most 
profound  feelings  of  gratitude.  Much  anxiety 
and  curiosity  was  manifested  to  see  and  con 
verse  with  them,  and  they  spent  the  whole 
Sabbath  very  pleasantly  at  the  General's 
headquarters. 

General  Hancock  revoked  the  order  out 
lawing  Colonel  Mosby.  A  suspension  of  hos 
tilities  for  ten  days  was  agreed  upon,  and 
Colonel  Mosby  was  allowed  to  confer  with  the 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  363 

authorities,  fully,  and  learn  the  real  desire  of 
all  good  and  brave  men  as  to  his  future  treat 
ment.  The  lawless  banditti,  and  cowardly, 
stay-at-home,  white-cravat  enemy,  he  knew 
would  not  entertain  propositions  for  him  to 
return  to  peaceful  pursuits  unmolested.  He 
desired  to  know  fully  and  fairly  if  the  Gov 
ernment  at  Washington  would  receive  his 
surrender  in  good  faith  as  a  finality,  first  to 
learn  explicitly  their  terms,  and  then  prepare 
to  comply,  and  perform  his  part  without 
reservation.  There  was  an  ominous  Board 
of  Military  Justice,  located  in  Washington, 
whose  inquisitions  were  a  novelty  in  modern 
civilization,  and  here  was  the  rock  on  which 
many  a  poor  unarmed  Confederate,  it  was 
feared,  would  split.  Their  crimes  were  the 
more  revolting  because  of  their  hypocritical 
pretence  about  justice  and  the  public  weal  in 
their  trials  and  semi-barbarous  murders,  their 
ex  parte,  manufactured,  second-hand,  news 
paper  evidence,  their  higher-law  convictions, 
and  their  sanctimonious  abuses  of  their  vic 
tims,  made  it  much  more  desirable  with  brave 
and  honest  men,  to  die  with  arms  in  their 
hands  on  the  field  of  battle,  than  to  be  mur 
dered  by  such  a  tribunal. 


364  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

All  the  officers  with  whom  Colonel  Mosby 
conferred  during  the  interim,  were  gen 
tlemen,  and  who  honored  the  uniform  they 
wore,  with  great  unanimity  promised  protec 
tion,  but  could  not  promise  definitely,  at  that 
time,  what  would  be  the  conduct  toward  him 
by  this  Board  of  Military  Justice,  so-called. 

During  the  pendency  of  negotiations,  the 
father  of  General  Torbert  visited  headquar 
ters  at  Winchester,  and  to  gratify  the  earnest 
wish  of  the  old  gentleman,  Colonel  Mosby 
granted  him  an  interview  at  Millwood.  He 
expected  to  see  a  rough,  uncouth  demi-savage 
in  the  person  and  manners  of  Colonel  Mosby, 
and  was  rather  abashed  when  he  was  intro 
duced  to  a  Liliputian,  physically,  —  one 
whose  easy  and  unobtrusive  bearing  impressed 
his  visitor  of  his  rare  qualities,  his  accom 
plishments,  and  gentlemanly  deportment. 
Still  the  old  gentleman  seemed  not  to  be  able 
to  overcome  his  prejudice  and  fears,  and  urged 
Mosby,  with  much  earnestness  and  feeling, 
not  to  harm  his  son. 

Mosby  having  failed  to  obtain  reliable 
assurances  from  the  Military  Commission  at 
Washington,  at  length  ordered  his  whole 
command  to  meet  him  at  Salem. 


CHAPTER   XLI. 


MOSBY  DISBANDS  HIS  FORCES  AT  SALEM  —  FAREWELL  — MOSBY  TAKES 
THE  OATH— TEN  THOUSAND  DOLLAR  PATRIOTISM —SUBMISSION  OF 
MOSBY'S  MEN  — CONCLUDING  REFLECTIONS. 


THE  men  drawn  up  in  line  for  the  last 
time  in  the  streets  of  Salem,  calmly 
considered  the  fact  that  they  must  sever 
forever  the  cords  which  had  so  long  bound 
their  destinies  in  one  common  cause.  It 
needed  not  the  hand  of  the  painter  or  poet 
to  picture  our  emotions  ;  they  shone  forth 
from  every  countenance,  and  spoke  from 
every  eye.  The  crisis  had  come;  this  ordeal 
could  not  be  ignored ;  the  trials  of  the  war 
were  severe,  but  this  cup  contained  the  con 
centrated  bitterness  of  all  our  trials. 

Adjutant  William  Mosby  read  to  the  com 
mand  the  following  farewell  address : 

11  HEADQUARTERS  i3  VA.  BAT.  VOL.  CAVALRY, 
FAUQUIER  Co.  VA.,  April  21,  1865. 

"  SOLDIERS  : 

I  have  summoned  you  together  for  the  last  time. 
The  vision  we  have  cherished  for  a  free  and  indepen- 
31*  (365) 


366  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

dent  country  has  vanished,  and  that  country  is  now 
the  spoil  of  a  conqueror.  I  disband  your  organiza 
tion  in  preference  to  surrendering-  to  our  enemies.  I 
am  no  longer  your  commander.  After  an  association 
of  more  than  two  eventful  years,  I  part  from  you  with 
a  just  pride  in  the  fame  of  your  achievements,  and  a 
grateful  recollection  of  your  generous  kindness  to 
myself;  and  now,  at  this  moment  of  bidding  you  a 
final  adieu,  accept  the  assurance  of  my  unchanging 
confidence  and  regard.  Farewell. 

J.  S.  HOSBY." 

The  common  sense  and  eloquent  simplicity 
of  this  address,  with  the  information  it  con 
veyed,  was  received  by  the  men  as  the  fond 
mother  receives  the  announcement  that  her 
offspring  has  departed  ;  its  words  were 
watched  as  we  would  watch  and  gaze  upon 
the  form  of  some  dear  one  whose  life  was 
giving  out  its  last  ebbing  pulsations ;  and 
then  as  each  man  grasped  the  honest  hand 
of  his  brave  leader,  and  pronounced  the  fatal 
word  farewell,  all  eyes  were  moistened  with 
tears  of  affection  and  sorrow.  No  one  knew 
what  was  to  be  the  fate  of  him  who  had  just 
addressed  us. 

During  the  two  succeeding  clays,  Colonel 
Chapman  and  the  greater  portion  of  the 
officers  and  men  visited  Winchester,  and  were 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  367 

naturalized  upon    their  native  soil,  and  then 
returned  to  their  respective  homes. 

Major  Richards  and  Adjutant  Mosby  visited 
Amherst  County  on  a  mission  of  reconcilia 
tion  and  reconstruction.  They  there  learned 
that  General  Joe  Johnson  had  surrendered 
his  command,  and  that  the  tide  of  war  was 
rapidly  flowing  into  peaceful  channels. — 
Divested  of  all  misgiving  as  to  the  final  issue, 
they  returned  to  Fauquier,  and  accepted  the 
parole. 

In  the  meantime,  Colonel  Mosby  put  him 
self  in  full  communication  with  the  Govern 
ment  at  Washington,  and  undertook  to  com 
ply  with  President  Johnson's  proclamation, 
if  the  Government  would  give  him  a  quietus, 
and  full  receipt  for  all  dues  and  demands, 
political,  civil,  military,  and  financial.  The 
momentous  question  was  decided  in  the 
affirmative,  and  the  Government,  after  mature 
deliberation,  accepted  in  a  spirit  of  amity  his 
proposition ;  and  accordingly  he  returned  to 
his  allegiance  by  subscribing  the  prescribed 
oath.  There  were-many  men  professing  human 
ity  and  Christianity,  and  even  styling  them 
selves  patriots  par  excellence,  who  thirsted 
for  the  blood  of  this  noble  man.  Among  such 


368  MOSSY  AND  HIS   MEN. 

creatures,  whose  virus  poisoned  the  atmos 
phere,  were  many  persons  who  had  never 
been  injured  or  harmed  by  Mosby  or  his  men ; 
but  they  prayed  for  an  opportunity  to  bathe 
their  hands  in  his  blood,  and  to  take  his  life 
would  have  been  esteemed  a  most  refined 
luxury.  Notwithstanding  this  fact  was  well 
known  to  the  Virginia  hero,  after  taking  the 
oath,  he  laid  aside  his  arms  and  visited  Char- 
lottesville,  and  other  points,  sometimes  incog, 
and  occasionally  he  made  himself  known  to 
his  former  foes. 

During  a  visit  to  the  University,  a  Yankee 
accosted  him,  and  asked  him  if  he  knew 
Mosby,  the  guerilla,  and  requesting  him  to 
describe  the  individual.  He  then  dwelt  with 
ecstasy  upon  the  fact  that  a  reward  of  ten 
thousand  dollars  had  been  offered  for  his  cap 
ture,  and  wished  to  undertake  the  contract, 
and  gain  the  reward.  Mosby  informed  the 
blood  speculator  that  he  had  seen  the  indi 
vidual  in  question,  but  could  not  gratify  him 
by  giving  him  a  reliable  description.  Mosby 
then  mounted  his  horse,  and  went  to  Elijah 
Murray's  house,  about  a  mile  distant.  There 
he  remained  a  few  minutes,  and  departed  for 
his  father's  in  Amherst.  He  had  scarcely  got 


MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN.  369 

out  of  sight,  when  two  hundred  reward- 
hunters,  calling  themselves  soldiers,  dashed 
up  to  Murray's  house  and  demanded  Mosby 
as  their  prisoner.  Their  language  on  the 
occasion  was  not  very  select,  nor  by  any  means 
chaste,  and  the  originality  of  their  anathemas 
gave  graphic  evidences  that  they  felt  no  per 
sonal  risk  in  their  undertaking.  Every  nook 
and  corner  was  overhauled,  and  the  out 
houses,  stables,  negro  quarters,  sheds,  &c., 
underwent  a  thorough  search..  These  modern 
humanitarians,  who,  no  doubt,  had  enter 
tained  numerous  weak-minded  dupes  at 
church-meetings,  with  most  heart  rending 
accounts  of  the  slave  lash,  and  the  brutalities 
of  the  "  Slave  Oligarchy,"  land  pirates,  horse 
thieves,  &c.,  like  Tarn  O'Shanter's  wife, 
nursed  their  wrath  to  keep  it  warm,  and  were 
slightly  enraged  at  the  disappointment.  A 
daughter  of  Mr.  Murray,  who  was  an  invalid, 
had  just  entered  the  carriage  at  the  side  door, 
and  was  about  departing  for  an  evening  drive, 
when  several  patriots  rode  up  and  shouted, 
"  there's  our  game."  The  young  lady,  and 
the  carriage,  of  course,  had  to  be  subjected 
to  their  GENTLE  questions  and  searching  gaze, 
and  after  an  officer  had  removed  her  veil,  the 


370  MOSSY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

command  retired  with  great  eclat,  in  their 
usual  good  order. 

When  our  hero  reached  his  father's,  he 
learned  that  General  Gregg  and  Colonel  Dun 
can,  of  the  United  States  Army,  had  honored 
the  family  with  a  visit.  They  spoke  of  having 
a  fighting  acquaintance  with  Colonel  Mosby, 
complimented  him  in  very  flattering  terms, 
and  expressed  a  warm  desire  to  form  his 
acquaintance.  General  Gregg,  like  a  true 
patriot,  soldier,  and  gentleman,  offered  old 
Mr.  Mosby  any  protection  he  desired.  On 
reaching  home,  Colonel  Mosby  expressed  his 
gratitude  at  this  manifestation  of  fraternal 
kindness,  but  he  was  forced  by  necessity,  to 
forego  the  pleasure  of  returning  the  visit. 
At  night  he  remained  with  a  relative,  William 
Hamilton  Mosby,  and  during  the  day,  spent 
most  of  his  time  at  his  father's. 

During  one  of  his  first  visits  in  this  neigh 
borhood  after  the  surrender,  the  garrison  at 
Lynchburg  were  advised,  doubtless  by  some 
"  intelligent  contraband"  that  the  brave  cavalier 
was  stopping  with  his  father.  Immediately 
an  expedition  of  twenty-five  men,  led  by  a 
lieutenant,  departed  under  the  sable  protec 
tion  of  night  to  win  unfading  laurels  by  his 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  371 

capture,  albeit  the  moving  cause  was  the  ten 
thousand  dollars,  and  visions  of  greenbacks 
danced  through  their  heads.  They  reached 
a  point  within  one  mile  of  the  house  of 
Colonel  Mosby's  father,  when  a  courier  from 
General  Gregg's  headquarters  overtook  the 
party,  with  orders  for  their  immediate  return. 
They  turned  back,  not  however,  without  in 
dulging  in  some  trite  phrases  about  "  copper 
head,"  traitor,  rebel  sympathizer,  &c.,  &c. 
The  demon  of  avarice  continued  to  rage  in 
the  hearts  of  wicked  men,  and  prowling  bands 
were  covertly  scouring  the  country  to  such  an 
extent,  that  General  Gregg  deemed  it  neces 
sary  to  place  a  guard  at  the  bridge  across 
James  River,  with  orders  to  allow  no  egress 
or  ingress,  unless  .the  party  held  a  pass,  or 
his  business  was  known. 

Many  incidents  such  as  these  go  to  make  up 
the  epilogue  to  the  grand  tragedy  which  had 
just  been  played.  The  acts  of  bad  men 
sometimes  served  as  a  foil  to  set  off  the  noble 
deeds  of  other  men.  Whilst  Colonel  Mosby 
now  enjoys  the  seclusion  of  his  home  in 
Warrenton,  Fauquier  County,  his  grateful 
recollections  of  the  kind  services  rendered 
him  by  the  true  soldiers  of  the  Yankee  army, 


372  MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN. 

will  be  cherished  by  him  as  the  happiest 
emotions  of  his  life. 

The  capture  of  Bolivar  Heights,  the  action 
at  Hamilton,  and  a  few  unimportant  skir 
mishes,  were  the  closing  acts  of  the  eventful 
scenes  through  which  this  hardy  band  had 
passed.  Our  boys,  at  the  beginning  of  their 
campaign,  did  not  have  the  glittering  gems 
of  wealth  to  lure  them,  nor  the  certainty  of 
success  to  invite  them  onward ;  but  actuated 
solely  and  honestly  by  inborn  love  for  lib 
erty,  they  bade  adieu  to  the  comforts  and 
luxuries  of  home,  and  embarked  their  for 
tunes,  honor,  and  lives  in  the  sacred  struggle 
for  human  freedom. 

The  capture  of  Richmond,  the  surrender 
of  Generals  Lee  and  Johnson,  and  the  cap 
ture  of  our  Chief  Executive,  thoroughly  com 
pleted  the  work  of  subjugation.  It  then  be 
came  our  imperative  duty,  as  faithful,  humane, 
and  honest  soldiers,  to  contemplate  the  solemn 
task  of  coming  under  the  yoke  of  the  old 
Government,  in  a  restored  and  unbroken 
Union  of  the  States.  Our  men,  not  only  as  a 
body,  but  individually,  at  once  turned  their 
attention  to  the  proper  duties  of  good,  law- 
abiding  citizens.  In  proportion  as  each  man 


MO  SET  AND  HIS  MEN.  373 

had  previously  displayed  activity  and  engaged 
in  daring  exploits  for  the  "  lost  cause"  he 
seemed  to  run  to  the  opposite  extreme,  in 
adapting  himself  to  the  new  order  of  things. 
Mosby  and  his  men  never  evinced  the 
slightest  vindictive  feeling  on  the  subject 
of  reconstruction.  They  seemed  willing,  in 
good  faith,  to  accept  the  arbitrament  of  the 
sword  as  deciding  the  issue  against  them. 
We  speak  for  ourselves,  as  well  as  the  com 
mand,  that  however  much  against  our  wish 
the  tide  of  battle  has  turned,  in  common  hon 
esty  and  fairness  we  must  adopt  the  axiom  as 
true,  "  once  in  the  Union,  always  in  the  Union'1 
Its  truth  has  been  sealed  by  the  blood  of 
nearly  half  a  million  brave  hearts.  The  prob 
lem  of  disintegration  and  the  establishment 
of  two  Governments  with  separate  laws  and 
distinct  powers,  has  been  definitely  solved. 
Some  of  us  contended  that  we  were  right,  by 
virtue  of  an  inherent  right  of  revolution; 
others  believed  in  the  abstract  right  of  seces 
sion  ;  while  another  class  denied  the  power 
or  right  of  the  general  Government  to  coerce 
a  sovereign  State,  and  upon  this  theory  took 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  their 
magna  charta  ;  but  whatever  might  be  the 

82 


374  MOSBY  AND  HIS  MEN. 

ruling  motives,  all  united  to  resist  oppression 
from  the  dominant  faction  in  the  North.  The 
primary  issue  of  the  war  upon  the  part  of  our 
enemies  was,  "  the  Union"  an  unbroken  Union  ; 
and  relying  upon  these  professions,  we  were 
willing  upon  our  surrender  to  recognize  the 
hand  of  fate,  frankly  and  honestly  to  acknowl 
edge  our  mistake,  that  we  had  NOT  been  out 
of  the  Union  during  the  four  years  of  war, 
but  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
is  one,  and  must  be  as  it  was,  minus  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery.  It  is  a  well  settled  fact, 
both  in  theory  as  well  as  practice,  that  the 
primary  object  of  all  just  Governments  under 
the  aegis  of  civilization,  is  to  impart  the 
greatest  amount  of  domestic  tranquillity  and 
happiness  to  the  greatest  number  of  people : 
we  vainly  indulged  in  the  flattering  belief  that 
it  was  to  be, 

"  A  union  of  hearts,  a  union  of  hands, 

A  union  that  no  one  can  sever ; 

A  union  of  lakes,  a  union  of  lands, 

The  American  Union  forever." 

The  axiom  "  that  all  just  and  free  govern 
ments  are  founded  in  the  consent  of  the  gov 
erned,"  was  finally  ignored,  when  the  last  gun 


MOSBT  AND  HIS  MEN.  375 

was  fired,  and  with  feelings  of  hope  and  con 
fidence,  we  trusted  in  the  magnanimity  of  a 
conquering  foe.  Speeches,  proclamations, 
military  orders,  inaugural  addresses,  news 
paper  editorials,  and  private  discussions  with 
our  prisoners  during  the  struggle,  had  led  us 
and  the  world  to  believe  that  the  war  was 
waged  by  the  so-called  Republican  partisans, 
in  good  faith  and  honesty,  to  restore  the 
Union  and  the  dear  old  flag.  In  this  we 
have  been  disappointed,  as  well  as  in  our 
dreams  of  independence. 


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A  NEW  NOVEL. — In  press do.       $1-75 

Elisha  Kent  Kane. 
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THE  SHENANDOAH. — History  of  the  Conf.  steamer.       do.  $1.50 

LIFFITHLANK. — A  travestie  by  W.  H.  Webb.  ///.       do.  50  cts. 
NOTES  ON  SHAKSPE ARE. — By  Jas.  H.  Hackett.    1 2mo.  cloth,  $1.50 

THEMONTANAS. — A nove.  oy  Mrs.  S.  J.  Hancock,     do.  $1-75 

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A  SPINSTER'S  STORY. — A  new  novel.        .        .         do.  $i-75 
A  LIFE  OF  JAMES  STEPHENS. — Fenian  Head-Centre,  do. 

TREE  GOVERNMENT  IN  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA. do. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  A  NEW  ENGLAND  FARM-HOUSE. —  do.  $1-75 

NEPENTHE. — A  new  novel do.  $1.50 

TOGETHER. do.                    ....              do.  $1.50 

LOVERS  AND   THINKERS. do do.  $I-5O 

POEMS. — By  Gay  H.  Naramore.     .        .        .          do.  $1.50 

dOMERY  OF  MONTGOMERY. — By  C.  A.  Washburn.     do.  $2.00 

VIOTOIRE. — A  new  novel.        .                 .        .          do.  $1-75 

POEMS. — By  Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Bolton.       .         .          do.  $1.50 

SUPPRESSED  BOOK  ABOUT  SLAVERY. .             .              do.  $2.OO 

JOHN  OUILDERSTRING'S  SIN. — A  novel.     .         .          do.  $1.50 

CENTEOLA. — By  author  "Green  Mountain  Boys."  do.  $1.50 

RED  TAPE  AND  PIGEON-HOLE  GENERALS. .              do.  $1.50 

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ALEXANDER  VON  HUMBOLDT. — Life  and  Travels,       do.  $1.50 

LIFE  OF  HUGH  MILLER. — The  celebrated  geologist    do.  $1.50 

THE  RUSSIAN  BALL. — Illustrated  satirical  poem.       do.  50  cts. 

THE  SNOBLACE  BALL.            do.                  do.            do.                do.  50  CtS. 

AN  ANSWER  TO  HUGH  MILLER. — By  T.  A.  Davies.     do.  $1.50 
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